Egitto, Rogers vie for 10-year term
Joseph Egitto, a Lagrangeville resident elected in 2013 to one of four seats on the Dutchess County Family Court, is seeking his second, 10-year term but facing a challenge from James Rogers, an attorney who lives in Hyde Park.
The family court, which renders decisions on custody disputes, allegations of abuse or neglect and juvenile trials, is based in Poughkeepsie.
Egitto, a Republican, was named in 2018 as the supervising family court judge for the 9th Judicial District, which includes Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties. He appears on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines.
Rogers, a former president of the Legal Aid Society, deputy state attorney general and deputy labor commissioner, appears on the Democratic and Working Families lines.
Egitto did not respond to two requests for an interview. However, his campaign website argues voters should re-elect him because of his experience.
Before his election in 2013, Egitto was an attorney in private practice for 28 years. He was also the LaGrange town justice, a role that he said routinely saw him preside over domestic violence cases and others involving youthful offenders. His site says he is on call 24/7 because of his supervisory role.
The experience Egitto does not have, his website chides, is as director of business development for the state Office of Cannabis Management — the position Rogers holds.
In an interview on Wednesday (Nov. 1), Rogers noted that, as a public defender, he represented many low-level offenders as they worked their way through the legal system. Getting those people out of courtrooms and “using the markets for a social-justice goal is something that we have always dreamed of,” he said. “Now we have a chance to build something positive.”
Rogers says the race is not about experience but reform. On his website, he calls attention to what he says are failures in the family court system.
Fact-finding hearings, custody disputes and trials involving minors are routinely delayed in Dutchess County, Rogers said, forcing potentially volatile situations to wait for resolution. “You want to give a sense of permanency to all the kids caught up in these cases,” he said. “You want to make sure you get it right, but you also have to make sure you get it right quickly.”
That lack of “immediate due process” could also be blamed, he said, for statistics that show family court judges in Dutchess County removing children from their families four times more often than in Putnam County and six times more often than in Rockland. At 27 percent, Dutchess is far below the state’s target of placing 50 percent of children in foster care with relatives.
In addition, Rogers cites state data that shows that of the 12 Dutchess children in juvenile facilities in 2022, seven were Black. None were white. In Rockland and Ulster counties, whites make up 43 percent and 25 percent, respectively, of those facilities’ populations.
“I don’t understand what is behind that number, but I do understand it is a marker for someone to dive into,” Rogers said.
“Egitto did not respond to two requests for an interview. However, his campaign website argues voters should re-elect him because of his experience.” This is typical of Egitto and speaks volumes that he is silent because he doesn’t want any tough questions. I have never heard of anyone having a positive experience at the Dutchess County Family Court nor any other the family courts under the supervision of Egitto. Experience tells you Egitto needs to go. Further, as we consider candidates for the role of family court judge, a critical question arises: How can we entrust a candidate who lacks the experience of being a biological parent with the responsibilities of this important position? It’s an undeniable fact that being a biological parent brings a unique set of experiences, challenges and emotional bonds that are distinct from those of non-biological parents. While stepparents can have a deep and loving connection with their stepchildren, the nature of the relationship remains fundamentally different. There are disadvantages of a candidate who doesn’t have the experience or fully understand the parent-child bond due to only being a stepparent, just as Judge Egitto who claims “experience matters.” The disadvantage lies in the risk that certain aspects of family dynamics might not be fully appreciated. This could potentially impact the quality of decisions made in family court cases, particularly when they involve disputes related to the parent-child bond. According to The Daily Catch: “Egitto also takes note of Rogers’ comparison of Dutchess to Rockland, Orange, and… Read more »