Sandy Monachino is a Democratic and Working Family Party nominee for family court judge. Monachino is the current Broome County Family Court support magistrate, and spent 29 years practicing family law in Broome County prior to his appointment. In addition to this, Monachino has taught classes at Binghamton University as an adjunct professor.

1. What motivated you to run for Broome County family court judge?

“Family law has been my passion ever since I became a lawyer. I have over 36 years of experience in family law practicing here in Broome County. For the last 7 ½ years, I have been a Broome County family court magistrate, adjudicating support and paternity cases. My career has been dedicated to dealing with the myriad of issues pertaining to families and children — practical issues that impact their daily lives: custody, visitation, support, paternity, abuse/neglect, juvenile delinquency proceedings and adoptions. I decided to run for family court judge because I believe I have the judgment and experience needed to be a fair, competent and compassionate judge.”

2. What challenges do you feel will be present in family court amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how do you plan to confront them?

“As a magistrate in family court, I have hands on experience dealing with the [COVID-19] pandemic and its impact on litigants in our court. I have been confronting the logistical challenges for the last 18 months in my courtroom, and I am pleased to report that the court remains open and available to all litigants. Most of our appearances are now conducted virtually through the [Microsoft] Teams platform; I have developed guidelines to ensure that the trials I conduct provide each party with a fair opportunity to present evidence in support of their cases. We also have a limited number of cases that are handled in person, following the social distancing and masking requirements set forth by the Office of Court Administration. I will continue to follow these procedures to ensure that all litigants have access to our family court system.”

3. What differentiates you from the other candidates running for this position?

“I am the only candidate currently serving on the bench in Broome County Family Court. I am the only candidate with family court judicial experience. I have more family law experience than all the other candidates combined — it is my extensive experience over the last 36 years that sets me apart from the other candidates. And that experience will be critical given the significant backlog of cases that the two newly elected judges will confront when they take the bench in January. I know the internal workings of the Broome [County] Family Court; I know how to handle heavy caseloads and manage a busy daily calendar, since I have been doing that in Broome County Family Court daily as a magistrate for the last 7 ½ years. I do not require any on-the-job training for this judicial position — I can adjudicate cases fairly and competently from day one.”

4. Why should students vote for you?

“I have been an adjunct professor for over 10 years here at BU in the School of Management, teaching [Business Law and Society 111: Legal Environment of Business I, Business Law and Society 112: Legal Environment of Business II] and [Management 583N: Negotiations] (MBA). I enjoyed my time teaching here at the University (most recently for the spring 2020 semester), and I am familiar with the students and their concerns. Any student who took my class knows that I value preparation and attention to detail; those are the same standards I now use daily in [the Broom County Family Court] as a magistrate and will continue to do so if I am fortunate enough to be elected judge. I believe that BU students will recognize the value of experience when deciding which candidate to vote for in a judicial election.”