Madeline Singas ’91 was appointed associate judge on the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state. Other Fordham Law alumni who have served on the court include Chief Judges John T. Loughran (Class of 1911) and R. Albert Conway (1911), as well as Associate Judges Adrian P. Burke (1930) and John F. Scileppi (1925).
Singas was confirmed on June 8 after a 37 to 26 vote by the New York State Senate. She was nominated for the position by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on May 25 and will be replacing Judge Leslie Stein, who will be retiring later this month.
“I am honored by the governor’s nomination to serve on New York’s highest court,” Singas said in a statement prior to her nomination, as reported by The Long Island Press. “And I look forward to the confirmation process.”
Singas has prosecuted violent criminals, including those who target the most vulnerable members of society—women, children, and the elderly—over the course of her 30-year career.
Prior to her confirmation, Singas served as Nassau County District Attorney, which began in 2015. During that time, she created the Office of Immigrant Affairs to focus on crimes against immigrants and help immigrants navigate the criminal justice system, as well as the Community Partnership Program in 2018—a community-based resource and referral office that provides social services in English and Spanish to the general community with a focus on the re-entry population and other justice-involved individuals.
Singas was named a member of the New York State Justice Task Force in 2017. She also served as chief assistant district attorney of Nassau County from 2011 to 2015 and chief of its first Special Victims Bureau in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. The Queens native was also an assistant district attorney in the Queens County District Attorney’s office for 15 years, from 1991 to 2006.