[Editors note: Welcome to the amNew York Law Bench Report, where we will feature notable rulings from state and federal courts, brief news bulletins that impact the judiciary and announcements from judges’ chambers. Are we missing anything? Contact editor-in-chief Andrew Denney at adenney@schnepsmedia.com]
New York State Bar Association to honor outgoing appeals judges at annual event
Next month, the New York State Bar Association will tip its hat to a group to six retiring state Supreme Court justices.
On Jan. 13, 2026 at the State Bar’s annual meeting in Manhattan, the organization will honor the following justices from the state’s Appellate Division departments:
- First Department Justice Jeffrey K. Oing, Appellate Division, who was appointed to the Manhattan-based midlevel appeals court in 2017 following a long career in state Supreme Court and New York County Civil Court.
- First Department Justice Anil C. Singh, also appointed to the First Department in 2017 following years as an elected state Supreme Court judge and Civil Court judge in New York City.
- Second Department Justice Joseph J. Maltese, who in 2014 was appointed to the Brooklyn-based Second Departmentafter 18 years as a trial judge in New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
- Second Department Justice Robert J. Miller, who was appointed to the Second Department in 2010 and who has served on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct since 2018.
- Third Department Justice Justice John C. Egan Jr., also appointed to the Appellate Division in 2010 after five years as a Supreme Court justice in Albany
- Third Department Justice Michael C. Lynch, who was appointed to the Appellate Division in 2014 following a career in public service as a State Supreme Court justice and the Albany County Attorney.
“Our judges are the last line of defense in this assault on the foundations of our democracy. We honor these six justices for their outstanding contribution to upholding the rule of law,” said New York State Bar Association President Kathleen Sweet in a news release. “We will continue to support our judges and speak out against any threats against the judiciary.”
Temple teacher fired over Israel blog post loses appeal
The New York Court of Appeals on Dec. 16 affirmed the dismissal of a teacher’s complaint after she was fired from a Westchester temple for co-authoring a blog post critical of Israel and Zionism. The plaintiff, Jessie Sander, sued Westchester Reform Temple under a labor law provision that bars adverse action over an employee’s legal recreational activities.
The high court stopped short of considering the scope of those activities or whether the law protects the public expression of one’s views. Whatever the scope, the appeals court said, the claim is barred by the ministerial exception.
“Plaintiff’s offer letter conclusively establishes that her core teaching responsibilities were religious, rather than secular, in nature,” Judge Caitlin J. Halligan wrote for the court.
The blog post in question said that the authors felt compelled to “speak out against” Israel’s attacks on Gaza and “reject[ed] the notion that Zionism is a value of Judaism.” During a meeting about the post, Sander assured the rabbi that she respected the temple’s position and would not share her views on the job; and the rabbi expressed complete confidence in Sander’s teaching abilities, she says. But she was fired less than a week later.
The underlying case is captioned Sander v. Westchester Reform Temple
