A Trip to Staten Island

The highlight of my day today was a trip to Staten Island to visit our Staten Island Youth Justice Center, which includes both a youth court and an alternative to detention program. I was accompanied by Joseph Lauria, the former chief administrative judge of New York City Family Court, who came to talk to the youth court members and offer feedback on a youth court hearing. The youth court members peppered Lauria with questions for more than an hour -- about the law, his career and the challenges of being a judge. I'm not ashamed to admit that I learned a few things in the process, which is a credit to the quality of the exchange. Kudos to Melissa and the rest of the Staten Island team for running such a good program.