A few days ago, I was thrilled to post about Gov. Spitzer’s push to address the ineffective, archaic and very expensive sentencing scheme that has burdened New York for decades.  Hooray!  A bold step into the future!  NOT.  I should have realize that something was awry when the enthusiastic NYLJ article was written by Alan Vinegrad.

As with all things political, the devil is in the details.  So who has Gov. Spitzer tapped to lead this charge toward rational and effective sentencing.  We now know the identities of the  appointees.  First, there are the official people, the heads of the various departments whose continued existence relies upon the existing sentence structure.  And then comes our font of imaginative, innovative and progressive thought:

Anthony Bergamo is Vice Chairman of MB Real Estate, Chief Executive Officer of Niagara Falls Redevelopment LLC, and Managing Director of the Milstein Hotel Group. He also serves as Special Counsel to the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State PBA Local 123, and the New York Organization of Narcotics Enforcers. From 1991 to 1996, Mr. Bergamo served as the Independent Fiduciary for the Southern District, Federal District Court, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Custom Shop Shirtmaker from 1979 to 1991.* He received his J.D. from New York Law School.

            * Editorial Note:  I have some ties from the Custom Shop.  At least this guy might know something about committing sartorial crimes against humanity. If memory serves, the Custom Shop was permanently closed after a raid in 1991 by the NY/NJ Fashion Task Force.

Michael C. Green currently serves as Monroe County District Attorney. Prior to being elected District Attorney in 2003, Mr. Green served as an Assistant District Attorney for 17 years. For the three years before his election, he served as the First Deputy District Attorney, responsible for homicide prosecutions in Monroe County. He has served in numerous other capacities in the office, including the Capital Crimes Prosecutor, Deputy Chief of the Major Felony Bureau, Chief of the DWI Bureau and trial attorney in the Major Felony Bureau.

Michael P. McDermott is currently Of Counsel to the Albany law firm of O’Connell and Aronowitz. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. McDermott served as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Associate and ultimately Partner at the Albany law firm of Bouck, Holloway, Kiernan and Casey. Mr. McDermott also served as Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office and Assistant District Attorney in the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. He received his J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University, where he was Editor of the Albany Law Review.

Judge Juanita Bing Newton has served as Administrative Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York since 2003 and as the New York State Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives since 1999. After serving eight years as the Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch, First District, Judge Newton was appointed to the position of Administrative Judge of New York County Supreme Court in 1995, becoming the first African American woman in New York State to hold this high level position. From 1995 to 2000, Judge Newton served on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Previously, Judge Newton was Executive Director and General Counsel of the New York State Sentencing Guidelines Committee. She received her B.A. from Northwestern University and her J.D. from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America.

Cyrus Vance, Jr., is currently a principal at the law firm of Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C. Originally from New York City, Mr. Vance co-founded a Seattle, Washington law firm, McNaul Ebel Helgren & Vance, one of the pre-eminent litigation firms in the Northwest. During this time he also served as an adjunct professor of law at Seattle University School of Law teaching trial advocacy. By gubernatorial appointment, he served on the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, advising the Governor and legislature on issues pertaining to state sentencing policies. He was also appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General to represent the state in investigations and litigation. Prior to moving to Seattle, Mr. Vance served as an Assistant District Attorney with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

A veritable who’s who of the status quo.  Coming from our former AG governor, whose love of all things prosecutorial (or at least formerly prosecutorial) continues unabated, I cannot begin to express my great joy at knowing that nothing, but nothing, will change for the better.  If anything changes at all.



The vision is coming to me now.  It’s getting clearer.  Clearer.  Ah, now I can see it.  It’s a grid.  A sentencing grid.  Well, at least we had a few days of exuberance believing that a change for the better was in the air.  Now back to reality.