Comment #: NY13965
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The most inaptly named judge in America, Sunshine is another judge who has presided over the tragic destruction of families. He has somehow risen to the powerful position of “supervising matrimonial judge”, a position he has consolidated by having his own wife, Nancy, appointed as the Kings County Supreme Court chief clerk. The biggest stain on his record is his role in the murder of a three-year-old-child and the suicide of his father, Dmitriy Kanarikov. According to an attorney connected to the case: “During a typical divorce proceeding, the mother used the usual domestic violence accusations to cut dad off from his son. Dad freaked out as he never heard of anything like this before. He appeared before Judge Sunshine, who is a rubber-stamping bureaucrat. He granted an order of protection to [the mother] - as usual - with no proof of any actual violence of any kind. Outraged by the lies, Dmitriy obtained his son for an unsupervised visit and proceeded to go up to the top floor of a West 60th Street building. He flung his son off the top floor and then jumped after the son. The press followed Sunshine's orders. Dad was branded violent and deranged. [The mother] was branded the abused spouse. An important difference between Kanarikov and the typical American is that Americans behave like sheep. We are led around by rings in our noses and no matter how the court behaves, we go along with the scam no matter how absurd. But Russians are far hardier than that, and the mother’s attorney really screwed the pooch. I do not believe Sunshine received any kind of sanctions.” According to another now-retired family court judge: “This Judge was the primary reason that I stopped practicing law, and that is a shame because I used to love being a lawyer and was quite good at it. He forgot where he came from--a Court street lawyer -- like the rest of us trying to make a living in an ever increasing impossible profession. Cases I had before him seemed to be more about him than the poor souls I represented who had real problems. His ego gets in the way of administering Justice. His Courtroom, like many others, is more like a cattle call than a revered Courtroom. Almost every client I ever had, even if they received a favorable ruling, always said the same thing: "Is that the way all judges act’?” As supervising judge, Sunshine has shown no leadership, and offers no relief to litigants who have been denied due process. Above his desk is a sanctimonious quote from the Book of Esdras: “Great is Truth and mighty above all things.” Its author, the scribe Ezra, must be turning in his grave. Sunshine shows scant regard for the Truth. In a recent case, he took punitive action against an attorney who had complained to him because a subordinate judge had not entered a decision on an application for a parent to see his child, after eight months of separation. Rather than treating such complaints seriously and confidentially, Sunshine immediately informs the judge about whom a complaint is made, often leading to retaliatory action. An Orthodox Jew, he is prone to fits of fury. He twitches and blinks as if he suffers from shellshock (or a guilty conscience), and his ashen moustache gyrates distractingly, especially when threatening pro se litigants of the “peril” they face in his courtroom. One 8-year-old child whom he interviewed in camera, as part of a Lincoln hearing, described him as the sloth DMV manager in Zootopia. He was elected to his current position in 2011, and is up for “re-election” today.

Comment #: NY13963
Rating:10.0
Comments:
This judge was the only normal person I met during my divorce other than my lawyer and the court attorney. Everyone else is absolutely nuts. Divorce is like a weird surreal alternate reality. I enjoyed listening to his random stories about a conference about indigenous juveniles in upstate NY and the amusing disagreements he and his wife have about the temperature of their house since I think this was strategic in order to brighten and normalize the conversation in the courtroom at least temporarily. I was happy with the outcome and felt everything was equitable and fair. He does not seem to appreciate hyper-aggressive lawyers that just want to instigate conflicts in order to profit from others misery which is great ??

Comment #: NY13951
Rating:1.0
Comments:
The most inaptly named judge in America, Sunshine is another judge who has presided over the tragic destruction of families. He has somehow risen to the powerful position of “supervising matrimonial judge”, a position he has consolidated by having his own wife, Nancy, appointed as the Kings County Supreme Court chief clerk. The biggest stain on his record is his role in the murder of a three-year-old-child and the suicide of his father, Dmitriy Kanarikov. According to an attorney connected to the case: “During a typical divorce proceeding, the mother used the usual domestic violence accusations to cut dad off from his son. Dad freaked out as he never heard of anything like this before. He appeared before Judge Sunshine, who is a rubber-stamping bureaucrat. He granted an order of protection to [the mother] - as usual - with no proof of any actual violence of any kind. Outraged by the lies, Dmitriy obtained his son for an unsupervised visit and proceeded to go up to the top floor of a West 60th Street building. He flung his son off the top floor and then jumped after the son. The press followed Sunshine's orders. Dad was branded violent and deranged. [The mother] was branded the abused spouse. An important difference between Kanarikov and the typical American is that Americans behave like sheep. We are led around by rings in our noses and no matter how the court behaves, we go along with the scam no matter how absurd. But Russians are far hardier than that, and the mother’s attorney really screwed the pooch. I do not believe Sunshine received any kind of sanctions.” According to another now-retired family court judge: “This Judge was the primary reason that I stopped practicing law, and that is a shame because I used to love being a lawyer and was quite good at it. He forgot where he came from--a Court street lawyer -- like the rest of us trying to make a living in an ever increasing impossible profession. Cases I had before him seemed to be more about him than the poor souls I represented who had real problems. His ego gets in the way of administering Justice. His Courtroom, like many others, is more like a cattle call than a revered Courtroom. Almost every client I ever had, even if they received a favorable ruling, always said the same thing: "Is that the way all judges act’?” As supervising judge, Sunshine has shown no leadership, and offers no relief to litigants who have been denied due process. Above his desk is a sanctimonious quote from the Book of Esdras: “Great is Truth and mighty above all things.” Its author, the scribe Ezra, must be turning in his grave. Sunshine shows scant regard for the Truth. In a recent case, he took punitive action against an attorney who had complained to him because a subordinate judge had not entered a decision on an application for a parent to see his child, after eight months of separation. Rather than treating such complaints seriously and confidentially, Sunshine immediately informs the judge about whom a complaint is made, often leading to retaliatory action. An Orthodox Jew, he is prone to fits of fury. He twitches and blinks as if he suffers from shellshock (or a guilty conscience), and his ashen moustache gyrates distractingly, especially when threatening pro se litigants of the “peril” they face in his courtroom. One 8-year-old child whom he interviewed in camera, as part of a Lincoln hearing, described him as the sloth DMV manager in Zootopia. He was elected to his current position in 2011, and his term expires in 2024.

Comment #: NY13945
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
My complaint here is with Justice Ciccotto - whom I believe he oversees. The judge is arrogant - taking litigants to back chambers to make ILLEGAL “ deals “ forcing one party to accept a bad settlement just to try and “ END “ a case. She favors abusive men and yells at litigants like they are criminals. She doesn’t understand kids since she never had any. Please look further into this judge and her abuse of litigants. I will attach an article and YouTube video as well exposing her corruption.

Hoping judge sunshine sees this here - as a top matrimonial judge this behavior should not be acceptable. Judge ciccotto needs to be removed/ counseled / admonished. Her behavior is erratic and she is a danger to cases with young children.

Comment #: NY4768
Rating:2.0
Comments:
This judge is arrogant and self-absorbed. How is it not a conflict of interest that his wife is the county clerk in the same county that he works in?

Comment #: NY2789
Rating:10.0
Comments:
This judge is a like rare breath of fresh air. I have always found him to be very fair and practical. Judge Sunshine treats the lawyers and litigants with respect and does his best to listen to all sides prior to making a decision. We need a lot more judges like him.

Comment #: NY1921
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
What can some one say about a judge who is so fair and honest and knows the law and follow the law not like most judge who sit on the bench If all judges were like this judge the courts would have the respect of the people again not like it is now where no one respect the courts anymore

Comment #: NY939
Rating:9.6
Comments:
He will hear your side and give you opportunity to present your argument. You better know the law because he does up to the minute.