Judge in Soda Ruling Is Wary of Government’s Power
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: March 11, 2013
He ended a state policy of routinely shackling even nonviolent offenders
on their way to and from the courthouse. He stopped, at least
temporarily, a new city rule limiting the number of art vendors in the
parks.
Justice Milton A. Tingling
Multimedia
Related
-
Judge Blocks New York City’s Limits on Big Sugary Drinks (March 12, 2013)
-
Cheering a Setback to the City’s Drink Limits (March 12, 2013)
In a small number of noteworthy cases over the years, Justice Milton A.
Tingling of State Supreme Court in Manhattan has displayed a palpable
sensitivity to the power of the government — and a willingness to push
back when the government may be going too far.
On Monday, Justice Tingling, 59, was back in the news again, with perhaps his highest-profile ruling yet: a surprise rejection of New York City’s ban on large servings of sugary drinks, a centerpiece of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s third term, on the eve of its implementation.
It was a forceful rejection, at that. The ban, he wrote, would not only
violate the separation of powers, “it would eviscerate it” — a prospect
that “has the potential to be more troubling than sugar-sweetened
beverages.”
His ruling’s feisty tone aside, Justice Tingling is generally known more
for thoroughness, sympathy and patience on the bench, lawyers and
litigants who have had cases before him said.
“He’s very careful, and very open to hearing both sides fairly,” said
Robert Lederman, the president of a group of artists challenging the
limits on art vendors in city parks. Justice Tingling issued a temporary
ban on the city rules in 2010, but the rules went back into effect
later that year. Justice Tingling’s decision on the artists’ challenge
to those rules is on hold pending the outcome of a challenge in federal
court.
“He asks very perceptive questions,” Mr. Lederman said. “He seemed to really care about artists.”
Milton Adair Tingling grew up and still lives on Riverside Drive in
Washington Heights, the middle child of a city lawyer-turned-judge, Milton F. Tingling, who died in 1987. His mother Eunice, 94, a schoolteacher from a long line of teachers, still lives nearby.
His father was a founder of the Riverside Edgecombe Neighborhood
Association and active in the Harlem Lawyers Association, now the Metropolitan Black Bar Association,
said the judge’s older sister, Michele A. Tingling-Clemmons. The
youngest sibling, Steven, is a subway train operator for the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Mr. Tingling graduated from Brown University in 1975 and from the North
Carolina Central University School of Law in 1982, the same year his
father was elected to the Civil Court bench, thanks in large part to the
support of a neighborhood friend, Assemblyman Herman D. Farrell Jr.
Mr. Tingling worked in private practice and as a clerk for other judges
before running for the Civil Court himself in 1996 — aided, again, by
Mr. Farrell. The New York Times editorial page endorsed him, saying he
had a “calm personality that seems well suited for the gritty,
fast-paced work of the lower court.” He was elected to the Supreme Court
in 2001; his term expires in 2014.
In 2008, Mr. Tingling ran for a post on the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.
Despite the support once more of Mr. Farrell and the backing of the
Manhattan Democratic organization, he was soundly defeated in a
three-way primary. This time, The Times editorial page said: “Mr.
Tingling, an affable but undistinguished State Supreme Court justice,
seems least up to the task.” His campaign raised little money and was
given little chance, political insiders recalled.
Justice Tingling’s tenure on the bench has not been free of errors or
reversals. In 2010, an appeals court panel cited him for “substantive
and procedural errors” in ordering the appointment of a receiver to sell
a home shared by a couple who had not yet divorced. A message left on
Monday at the judge’s home seeking comment was not answered.
Twice married, Mr. Tingling has four children, the youngest a college
student, his sister said. For many years, Justice Tingling has
volunteered on Primary and Election Days to field complaints from uptown
voters who were denied ballots. “They have judges downtown,” Mr.
Farrell said. “He always does it uptown, so you don’t have to travel all
the way downtown. He just does it for the people.”
His sister said their parents instilled those values. “He comes from
strong neighborhood stock, strong organizing stock,” his sister said.
Ms. Tingling-Clemmons, a former nutrition official for the District of
Columbia, said she had been awaiting her brother’s decision on the soda
ban — and hoping it would go the other way.
“I love my baby brother,” she said, laughing. “I still think he’s a good man.”
Ms. Tingling-Clemmons said she spoke with him a few times a week but had
not lobbied him on the merits of the city’s soda-size limit because she
did not want him to dread her phone calls.
Besides, she said, “He’s gotten pretty good at keeping his own counsel.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:Correction: March 12, 2013
An earlier version of this article, as well as a picture caption and web summary, referred incorrectly to Justice Milton A. Tingling as a junior. He is not.
Thanks for the help. The item’s
below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing
address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
Long Island Business
News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma,
NY 11779-7348
Home >
LI Confidential
> Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
No comments:
Post a Comment