Queens Democratic Party Nepotism Allegations

QUEENS — Relatives of Congressman Joseph Crowley, chairman of Queens Democratic Party, have once again been receiving assignments and payments from the borough's Supreme Court, following a four-year ban from receiving appointments in the judicial district.

Crowley's family members were banned from receiving employment from the Supreme Court after a minor scandal in 2011. Reports had shown that two of Congressman Crowley's cousins, Bernadette and Theresa Crowley, were receiving appointments from the Supreme Court, while their sister Margarette Bernadette held a clerk position under the Supreme Court that paid six-figures. Their fourth sister, Elizabeth Crowley has been serving as Councilmember for District 30 since 2008.

State laws ban lawyers who are the immediate family of a well-compensated Supreme Court employee from receiving assignments in the same judicial district.

Following the four-year absence of Crowley's family members from the Supreme Court, they began picking up assignments again after Margaret Crowley left her job in 2015, state payroll records showed.

In July 2015, Bernadette Crowley was named guardian ad litem in a case, and, in December 2015, she served as the legal guardian of a mentally incapacitated woman. She also secured two court evaluator positions in 2016. Her husband Gregory Gina was appointed three times as court evaluator, in July and October of the same year.

Margaret Crowley, who now has a private practice, was also named court evaluator in two cases in December 2016 and February 2017.

The appointments do not violate court rules, as Margaret Crowley is no longer employed by the Supreme Court. However, they do point towards to a tendency on the part of the court to favor lawyers who have connections within the Queens Democratic Party.

Joseph Crowley is currently rising in the ranks of the Democratic Party. He delivered a speech for Hillary Clinton last July and was elected the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in November.

This story was first reported by Will Bredderman of Observer.

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