A New York state judicial commission dedicated to "racial equity" held an exclusive speed-networking event for law students and early-career attorneys at the Brooklyn Supreme Civil Courthouse on July 28, using taxpayer-funded court infrastructure to advance a diversity pipeline that explicitly prioritizes "persons and communities of color" over the general public.
The Franklin H. Williams Judicial Mentor Program — operating under the state's judicial diversity apparatus — hosted "Chat, Connect & Continue," pairing diverse law students with sitting judges and seasoned practitioners. The program's stated mission leaves no ambiguity about who is welcome: "We strive to promote equal access and full participation in the court system by persons and communities of color in the judicial process and the legal profession," said FHW co-Chair and First Department Associate Justice Troy Webber. Webber then lamented the current climate, noting that "diversity, equity, and inclusion are frowned upon and not thought of as things that you should strive to achieve."
Translation: a sitting appellate justice, drawing a public salary, is using the machinery of New York's court system to complain that Americans are pushing back against race-filtered programs — the very kind of program she is running on the public dime.
The event funneled students through mentoring circles with judges from the state Supreme Court, Court of Claims, Family Court, Housing Court, and Criminal Court. FHW Judicial Mentor Program Chair and Second Department appellate court Justice Joanne D. Quiñones championed the initiative: "My mentor, who retired last year, helped me navigate every step of the journey. That relationship, that experience is one of the reasons why I believe so deeply in the power of mentorship."
Mentorship itself isn't the problem. The problem is a government-run program that filters opportunity through race. New York City Housing Court Judge Alberto Gonzalez praised how the program helped him navigate the appointment process — access that, by the commission's own framing, is being steered toward "persons and communities of color." Legal Aid Society staff attorney Naya Brown-Yohay, a former FHW legal intern, said the perspective she gained helped her navigate the start of her legal career "without feeling totally overwhelmed."
Law student Nago Wilkins, currently interning for Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Joseph, said he came to law school after advocating for students with disabilities and now wants to work as a court clerk. Another law student, Sam Kamara, said he attended to decide between sports and entertainment law or working within the court system.
AM New York covered the event as a straightforward community story. What went unasked: what this program costs, who funds it, and whether a state judicial commission should be in the business of race-exclusive career pipelining at all. No opponent of the program was quoted. No cost figures were provided. No one asked whether a program that explicitly serves "persons and communities of color" violates the equal protection principles that courts are supposed to uphold.
The DEI apparatus inside New York's judiciary operates with the full backing of the court system's leadership and infrastructure. Judges who sit on these commissions are paid by taxpayers — including the taxpayers whose children are told this program isn't for them.
The question isn't whether mentorship works. It's whether the government should be running a race-filtered jobs program inside the courthouse — and who's held accountable when public institutions treat citizens differently based on the color of their skin.
