Justice Center Legal Misfires Spur Reform Talk

ALBANY — Legislators and attorneys are beginning to call for a harder look at the Justice Center after another case was thrown out by a judge in Albany last week.

State Sen. Rob Ortt, head of the mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said he believes this issue could get worse in the near future and potentially imperil some of the state’s most vulnerable populations.

“This needs the attention of the governor as well as the Legislature,” Ortt, a Republican from Western New York, said in an interview. “So far it’s mostly contained in Albany, but once you have one of these decisions, a lot of times others will follow.”

State Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough dismissed the case against Nicole Hodgdon, a counselor at a drug treatment center accused of rape and misdemeanor sex crimes for allegedly having sex with a patient, because “the Justice Center does not have the authority to prosecute this case.”

The case marked the third such defeat — two in Supreme Court, and one in Albany County Court — for the 4-year-old agency since March, all on the same grounds. The Justice Center has taken steps to appeal at least one of the dismissed cases.

“I’m praying they’re stupid enough to appeal so that it can set a resounding precedent,” Terry Kindlon, Hodgdon’s attorney, said of the Justice Center. “It’s a classic example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions.”

Spurred by a series of damning articles in The New York Times about neglect and abuse, Gov. Andrew Cuomo led the creation of the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs to investigate and potentially prosecute those who care for people with developmental disabilities, substance abuse issues, mental illness and troubled youths.

“There is a lack of resources in local prosecutors who understand the needs of special needs people and deal with it in these situations,” said Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, a Westchester Democrat and frequent critic of the Justice Center.

Justice Center employees typically refer cases to local prosecutors or the attorney general, but they were also empowered to bring cases themselves — which has caused legal trouble as the state constitution reserves criminal prosecutions solely for elected officials.

Scott McNamara, president of the District Attorney’s Association of New York — whose membership includes the attorney general and the Justice Center — says that while there are some growing pains, the Justice Center is a valuable resource for prosecutors.

“There’s people out there who say they’re not doing their job. I disagree,” said McNamara, the Oneida County district attorney. “The cases that they look into, in my opinion, historically have slipped through the cracks.”

In addition to defense attorneys and judges, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office has also taken issue with the Justice Center's unique arrangement and has intervened on multiple cases to oppose the constitutionality of its prosecutions.

"As we've successfully argued in court, under the State Constitution that only District Attorneys and the Attorney General have the power to criminally prosecute,” spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said in a statement. “Yet the Justice Center can accomplish its statutory mission simply by obtaining delegated prosecutorial authority from the relevant DA."

Ortt said he hopes that he and his colleagues can engage Cuomo and his staff on possible reforms for the Justice Center.

“We’re not talking about disbanding or throwing it away,” he said. “We’re talking about getting it to better fulfill its original mission, so I’m hoping the governor would be willing to work with us to help do that.”

Spokespeople for the governor and the Justice Center did not return requests for comment.