Hudson Valley Justice Censured For 'Liking' Pro-Law Enforcement Posts

LLOYD, NY — A town of Lloyd justice was censured by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for “liking” pro-law enforcement posts.

Terry B. Elia was served with a formal written complaint April 4 accusing him of liking, sharing or commenting on publicly visible social media posts that “cast doubt on his ability to be impartial in matters involving law enforcement” and that dealt with partisan politics, according to the commission’s determination.

Elia, who is not an attorney, has been a justice for Lloyd in Ulster County since 1998.

The posts were on LinkedIn, a professional and social networking website and platform that allows people to post, share, like and comment on content.

Elia was indentified on his profile page as “Town Justice Town of Lloyd Justice Court, Highland” and listed interests as “Blue Lives Matter,” “The Law Enforcement Network” and “Police1 Network.”

Among the comments that were “liked” by Elia was critizing protesters after a grand jury decision indicting one of three police officers involved in a police shooting.

He liked a comment about giving police better non-lethal weapons such as water cannons and then commented, “Time to bring the unrest to an end.”

The comments and “likes” were from Sept. 2020 through July 2021.

Elia accepted the determination of commission and said, in a news release from his attorney, that he understands there should be no misperception of his conduct as a justice and was sorry for conduct that negatively impacts the public’s perception of the judiciary, the Times Union reported.