Spending a Day in LaBuda’s Courtroom

by: Bill Liblick

The amount of crime Sullivan County has per capita is astonishing and should be a serious concern to all of us. Misconduct is nothing new to any region, but what is happening here is alarming.

Teenagers and young adults being arrested for robbery, rape, gun possession, drugs, violent assaults, the list goes on and on.

Spending a day in County Court Judge Frank LaBuda’s courtroom will be enough to make you understand what I am talking about. The average law-biding citizen understandably has no clue what is going on there.

I recently sat in the courtroom while Judge LaBuda’s calendar was in progress. One quickly gets an eerie feeing of disgust and disbelief as one criminal after another enters the room in handcuffs wearing orange prison garbs. In all probability you will initially be in shock, then you will get sick to your stomach.

What is leading to all this criminal activity? Is it lack of employment opportunities, boredom, poor parental guidance, or peer pressure? Have we totally failed teaching right from wrong?

Our local Town and Village courts are flooded with criminal cases. But, it is in Judge LaBuda’s courtroom where the serious ones wind up.

District Attorney Stephen Lungen and his associates are diligently prosecuting, while defense attorneys attempt to get the best deals for their clients. Those who cannot afford a lawyer utilize the services of legal aide. 

LaBuda judiciously reviews each and every case prior to his sentencing. That day, he sent one young man to state prison for rape and sexual assault, and another for drug and gun possession.

A thin and visibly shaken teenager with a prior substance abuse conviction, arrested for not “coming up clean” in a urine test, expressed a huge sigh of relief when LaBuda released him to a drug treatment center instead of county jail.

Much of the action between defense attorneys and family members takes place in the hallway. When you ease-drop on a conversion there is always disbelief.

One lawyer defending two teenagers caught with bazookas tried to explain the severity of the charges, but the parents were in denial that their child could do anything wrong.

A legal aid attorney was seen discussing with family members how his client just convicted with rape would handle state prison. His sister began screaming out loud with tears rolling down her face, “I love you Richard, I love you Richard,” as he passed them in the hallway and was being escorted back to jail.

Judge LaBuda confirmed for me the rise in felony cases. “In the past ten years I have seen a steady increase in serious crime in our County. At times it is very disheartening to see more and more of our young people become convicted felons as they ruin their lives with violence and drugs.”

LaBuda added, “In the past four years the crimes of drugs, sexual violence against children and guns have tripled.  This exacts a heavy toll, not only on our quality of life but a heavy price on our taxpayers.”

When you see first hand the amount of work and responsibility being a judge entails, you have to laugh at critics who claim members of the judiciary do not deserve a pay raise. There is something very wrong when defense and legal aide attorneys earn more than judges and prosecutors.

There are those who criticize LaBuda for rendering strong sentences, but seeing him in action draws one to the conclusion that he is fair and just. “As a Judge I am always concerned with the rights of victims as well as the defendants. It’s a balance that judges in America have always struggled with.”

Sullivan County without a doubt has a serious crime problem. Our law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and members of the judiciary are doing are superb job in arresting, convicting, and sentencing. 

However, as a society our solution cannot just be arrest and conviction. We must get to the root of the problem and work from that end. Programs such as Judge Josephine Finn’s project Dream Tank, the YMCA, DARE and after school activities are doing just that. But, we sadly need even more.

Email Bill