Nicholas Garaufis

Nicholas Garaufis

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (senior status)

Tenure

2014 - Present

Years in position

10

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

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Education

Bachelor's

Columbia College, 1969

Law

Columbia Law School, 1974

Personal

Birthplace

Paterson, N.J.

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Nicholas Garaufis is a federal judge on senior status for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Garaufis joined the court in May 2000 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. He assumed senior status on October 1, 2014.

Education

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Garaufis graduated from Columbia University with his bachelor's degree in 1969 and later from Columbia University Law School with his J.D. in 1974.

Professional career

Garaufis was a private practice attorney in New York State from 1973 to 1975 before serving as an assistant state attorney general in the New York Attorney General's Office from 1975 to 1978. Garaufis resumed private practice from 1978 to 1986 before serving as chief legal counsel for the Office of the President of the Borough of Queens, New York from 1986 to 1995. Garaufis was chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration from 1995 to 2000.

Judicial career

Eastern District of New York

On the recommendation of U.S. Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Chuck Schumer, Garaufis was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by President Bill Clinton on February 28, 2000, to a seat vacated by Charles Sifton. Garaufis was confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 2000, on a voice vote and received his commission on May 25, 2000. Garaufis assumed senior status on October 1, 2014.

Noteworthy cases

Federal court temporarily blocks Trump administration's order ending DACA program

On February 13, 2018, Judge Garaufis issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration's order ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by the Obama administration. The program allowed individuals who were brought to the United States as children to receive relief from being deported for a period of time if they meet certain criteria. On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would be rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, effective March 5, 2018. The plaintiffs in the case filed suit to challenge that order. They argued in part that the Trump administration's order violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). They asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the order while the case proceeded.

Garaufis ruled that while the administration possessed the legal authority to end the DACA program, its stated rationale in its September 2017 order could not survive judicial review. Under the APA, courts asked to review administrative decisions "must set aside action, findings, or conclusions that are, among other things, arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law." Garaufis wrote, "The question before the court is thus not whether [the administration] could end the DACA program, but whether they offered legally adequate reasons for doing so." In this case, Garaufis wrote, the Trump administration's stated rationale for ending the DACA program was its belief that the program was unconstitutional. Garaufis ruled that the Obama administration's creation of the program was within its legal authority. "Because [the Trump administration's] conclusion was erroneous," Garaufis concluded, "the decision to end the DACA program cannot stand." The preliminary injunction requires the administration to continue processing DACA applications while the litigation was underway. Garaufis emphasized that his order did not mean that the administration was unable to lawfully rescind DACA on different grounds.

This was the second decision by a federal district court to enjoin the administration's September 2017 DACA order. A federal district court in San Francisco enjoined the order in a separate lawsuit earlier this year. The Trump administration appealed that decision to the United States Supreme Court.

FDNY discrimination case (2010-2011)

See also: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (US and The Vulcan Society, Inc v. The City of New York, et al, No. 07-cv-2067 (NGG)(RLM))

On July 22, 2009, Judge Garufis ruled against the City of New York for using selection tests that discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants to the Fire Department.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued New York City after the Vulcan Society, a black fire fighters advocacy group, filed a complaint over the department's hiring practices.

In another ruling involving the same plaintiffs, the Vulcan Society, the judge issued a ruling on January 13, 2010, that the City of New York engaged in widespread discriminatory hiring practices of its firefighters. Garafuis wrote in his ruling that the discriminatory hiring practices stems back all the way to the 1960s and described it as "a persistent stain on the Fire Department’s record."

In November, 2011, Judge Garaufis appointed Mark S. Cohen, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, to serve as a special bias monitor for the FDNY to ensure fair treatment for minorities in the department. The appointment came after Judge Garaufis ruled that judicial oversight of the FDNY was necessary because of the, in his words, "pattern and practice of discrimination against black firefighter candidates."

NY mental disabilities case (2010)

See also: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Disability Advocates, Inc v Paterson, et al, No. 03-CV-3209 (NGG))

On September 8, 2009, Judge Garafuis ruled that New York State had to find new housing for 4,000 mentally handicapped citizens. The judge found that the State of New York put these citizens in what he called "poorly-run, seedy homes". The 210-page ruling issued by Garafuis found the state committed numerous violations under The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and gave health officials six weeks to come up with a plan for new housing.

Later, Judge Garafuis ruled on March 2, 2010, that the State of New York must create 1,500 units of housing for the mentally handicapped every year until 2013. Officials overseeing housing for the mentally handicapped in New York State questioned the judge's ruling at a time when the state's resources were stretched thin due to a budget crisis.

The New York Post in its March 8, 2010, edition criticized Judge Garaufis over what the newspaper reported was an apparent conflict of interest. This came from the judge's wife serving on the Board of Directors for The Fountain House which advocates for people with mental disabilities in the New York City area. The newspaper also reported that the New York Attorney General's office raised issue over his wife's affiliation when the case was first brought to the court in 2006, but did not ask the judge to recuse from the case.

Bonanno crime family murder and racketeering case (2009)

See also: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (US v. Basciano, No. 05-CR-060 (NGG))

Judge Garufis presided in the murder and racketeering trial of Vincent Basciano, formerly acting boss of the Bonanno crime family. Basciano was convicted of the murder of a mob associate and attempting to kill federal prosecutor Greg Andres.

As a result of the conviction, Basciano was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

See also

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

External links

• Judge Nicholas Garaufis' biography at the Federal Judicial Center
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, "Biography of Nicholas Garaufis"

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Charles Sifton	Eastern District of New York 2000–2014	Succeeded by: LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall