A “swat team” in black robes is heading to The Bronx.
The squad of experienced judges from across New York state is being dispatched to Bronx Criminal Court to help clear up its astounding backlog of more than 900 felony cases.
Brooklyn Judge Patricia DiMango will spearhead the six-month operation, in which the judges from upstate and Long Island will adjudicate 270 cases that are three years old or more, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said at a Citizens Crime Commission conference at Fordham Law School.
In an interview with the Law Journal after his remarks, Lippman referred to the 10 Bronx-bound judges as a “SWAT team.”
The Bronx currently has 931 felony cases that are more than 2 years old — compared with the city’s second-most-pending borough, Manhattan, with 217.
“This acute backlog of felony cases is entirely unacceptable to all of us in the courts and the entire justice community in Bronx County,” Lippman said. “This is something we have never done before.”