Editing Rochester, New York (section)

====Rochester City Court====
Rochester City Court is part of the [[judiciary of New York|New York State Unified Court System]]<ref>N.Y. Const. Art. VI, § 17(a).</ref> and consists of ten full-time judges, each of whom is elected to a 10-year term. Each judge must be a city resident and must have been an attorney in New York for at least five years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/UCT/2104|title=Legislation|website=NY State Senate}}</ref> Judges have a mandatory retirement age of 70. Vacancies on the court are filled by the mayor, and judges so appointed must run for a full term at the next general election.<ref>UCCA § 2104 (e)(2)(i)</ref>

In New York State, the 61 [[city courts]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Latwin |first1=Joseph |title=City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction |journal=Westchester Bar Journal |date=Fall 1990 |volume=17}}</ref> outside of New York City handle the arraignment of felonies, try misdemeanors and lesser offenses, and try civil lawsuits involving claims of up to $15,000. Rochester City Court also hears small claims matters up to $5,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/7jd/monroe/City-Court/Resources/SmallClaimsAppRocCityCourt.pdf|title=SmallClaimsAppRocCityCourt &#124; NYCOURTS.GOV|website=ww2.nycourts.gov}}</ref> Rules of practice and procedure within all city courts are prescribed by the Uniform City Court Act.<ref>UCCA § 102</ref> Rochester City Court, like all city courts, follows the individual assignment system ("IAS"). This means that each case is assigned to a judge when the case is first initiated, and, with a few exceptions, stays under the supervision of that particular judge until the case is resolved.<ref>Latwin, Joseph (Fall 1990). "City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction". Westchester Bar Journal, 280.</ref>

Created in 1876, the Court was initially named the "Municipal Court of the City of Rochester" and had two judges.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Henry |title=The Courts of the State of New York |date=1909 |publisher=Wilson Publishing Co. |location=New York |page=473}}</ref> Originally, city courts throughout the state were self-regulating, and prescribed their own rules of procedure and bounds of jurisdiction.<ref name="auto">Latwin, Joseph (Fall 1990). "City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction". Westchester Bar Journal, 279.</ref> Rochester City Court was governed by the Rochester City Court Act, which was a part of the Charter of the City of Rochester.<ref>H.G. Fischer & Co. v Lincoln Rochester Trust Co., 195 Misc 983, 985 (Rochester City Court, 1949).</ref> In 1935, Judge Jacob Gitelman introduced weekend sentencing. He was the first judge in New York State to do so.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://roccitylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013.004-Gitelman.pdf |title=Jacob Gitelman Papers |website=Rochester Public Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420035220/https://roccitylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013.004-Gitelman.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1964, the New York State Constitution was amended to require uniform jurisdiction, practice, and procedure for the city courts, to be regulated by the state legislature.<ref name="auto"/> The court's first African-American judge, Reuben K. Davis, was appointed to the city court bench in March 1967.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celebrating Black History Month in the 7th Judicial District |url=https://www.nycourts.gov/legacypdfs/courts/7jd/7JD%20Black%20History%20Month%202022%20Overview%20Booklet.pdf |publisher=The Legacy}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the court heard cases involving the prosecution of the "Topfree Seven", women who intentionally bared their chests once a year in order to protest the criminalization of female nudity. Judge Herman J. Walz  ruled that the women could not be prosecuted under New York's public nudity statute because their act of going topless in order to protest the law was imbued with First Amendment protections.<ref>{{cite web |title=Judge Rules Women Free To Bare Breasts To Get A Message Across |url=https://apnews.com/article/0aa95d20d279772537c579b9b99922b3 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref> The decision was later affirmed by the [[New York Court of Appeals]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bauder |first1=David |title=NY's Highest Court Throws Out Charges Against Topless Protesters |work=AP NEWS |url=https://apnews.com/article/dc9d9094606f9c7a4df3beaee0ee63d6 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>People v Santorelli, 80 NY2d 875 (1992), affg People v Craft, 134 Misc 2d 121 (Rochester City Court, 1986).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahringer |first1=H P |title=Equal in all things: drawing the line on nudity |journal=Criminal Law Bulletin |date=1993 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=137–146}}</ref> By 1995, Rochester City Court had eight judges. A ninth was added in 2001.<ref>L.2001, c. 584, §§ 3 to 6, effective December 28, 2001</ref> The Court was brought to its current complement of ten judges in 2014.<ref>L.2013, c. 548 §§ 1 to 4, effective April 1, 2014.</ref>