STATEMENT OF THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY IN REPONSE TO THE FORMAL COMPLAINT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT AGAINST SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE JAMES CONVERY
Today the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct filed a formal complaint against Essex County Superior Court Judge James Convery, in part, because of his offensive remarks in open court to the former President of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (”HBA”), Ivette R. Alvarez. The HBA welcomes this action since ethnic slurs have no place in the courts of New Jersey.
On January 4, 2008, Ms. Alvarez was representing the plaintiff in a family law matter before Judge Convery, in part to explain the absence of her client’s Social Security earnings statements from the record. Judge Convery expressed disbelief that that anyone would not have such earning statements available when Ms. Alvarez noted that she herself had not received one in three years. Judge Convery then told Ms. Alvarez: “Well, when did you become an illegal alien?” Ms. Alvarez immediately advised the judge that his remark was totally inappropriate. On January 22, 2008 the HBA conveyed its concerns over this episode of racial and ethnic bias in a letter to Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.
“Today’s complaint against Judge Convery justifies our concerns in the HBA in this matter specifically and about the treatment of Hispanic attorneys in the courts, in general. It evidences the seriousness with which the Supreme Court is treating this allegation of judicial misconduct,” says George Rios, President of the HBA. Simply put, in today’s climate in New Jersey where anti-immigrant hysteria in increasingly in vogue, accusing Latino members of the Bar of being “illegal aliens” is code for engaging in discriminatory and stereotypical name-calling that isolates Latino attorneys, questions their legitimacy and competence, and perpetuates the notion of “other” that the HBA has steadfastly sought to eliminate.
If Latinos of the caliber of Ms. Alvarez, who is also a former Chair of the Family Law Section of the NJ State Bar Association, is being subject to these types of comments in court, we can only assume that there are numerous similar incidents that go unreported by lawyers and pro se litigants who appear before the court seeking justice, but refrain from reporting it out of fear of reprisal. Ethnic slurs in court are indefensible and repulsive. Everyone who appears before a judge should be treated with respect and dignity; whether a naturalized citizen, resident immigrant or undocumented immigrant. Especially when made in open court, comments such as these have a chilling effect on immigrants seeking judicial relief. It further speaks of the ignorance of the speakers because it indicates that they believe that illegal immigration is a phenomenon unique to Latinos and that all Latinos are immigrants — a false assumption in the case of Ms. Alvarez. It is important to note that on this very day, a companion complaint of judicial misconduct against Judge James Citta, Criminal Division, Ocean Vicinage was filed where the judge told a Spanish-dominant, Hispanic defendant in open court that he should be returned to Mexico after the judge complained bitterly about the need to provide bilingual assistance to the defendant regarding his parole supervision. The juxtaposition of the Convery matter and the Citta matter clearly raises concerns within the HBA.
The words “illegal alien” in and of themselves are not discriminatory and are already part of the lexicon of the federal immigration apparatus. But when they are targeted exclusively toward Latinos, regardless of their citizenship status, they perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes of otherness. And when they are so directed by members of the judiciary - whose commitment and duty to impartiality is paramount - the targets of such invectives can only reasonably conclude that they were designed to ostracize, ridicule and exclude their legitimate participation in the practice of law.
That this episode involves a leader of our Association is both sobering and fortunate because she, like all of our Trustees, represents the best that our bar has to offer and she can take the risk of bringing these matters to the attention of the appropriate entities in the state. As an Association we are similarly bound to represent the interest of all Latino attorneys and thus respectfully urge the Supreme Court to allow a full hearing in this matter that elicits the position of Judge Convery, and if warranted, to take swift and appropriate action that will confirm that such conduct by a sitting judge is intolerable.
