An upstate New York judge has stepped down from his post after he attempted to bypass jury duty by admitting he could not remain impartial because he believed all people who end up in court to face charges are guilty.
Richard T. Snyder, a justice of the Petersburgh Town Court, complied with a summons for grand jury duty in October 2023, according to a news release from the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
In an effort to be excused, he introduced himself as a presiding judge and said that he couldn’t serve as a juror because he believed that anyone who came before him in court was guilty.
According to court transcripts cited by The Times Union, Snyder told the judge that he could not remain impartial and that “it would not be fair.”
“I know everybody come in front of me, I know they are guilty. They would not be in front of me,” Snyder said.
The judge who oversaw the jury selection later reported his statements to the state’s judicial conduct commission in December 2023, and Snyder testified before the board in July 2024.
He repeatedly told commission members that all litigants who appeared before him “did something wrong.”
He also stated, “I know they’re guilty because they did something wrong. That’s how they got a ticket,” and added, “That’s the reason why they got the ticket to appear in court because they did something wrong.”
The commission issued Snyder a formal written complaint to Snyder in November 2024 and charged him with misconduct. He handed in his resignation the next month and the commission accepted it on Jan. 30.
“It is bad enough that a judge would seek to avoid such a fundamental civic responsibility as jury service. It is astounding that the judge would claim an inability to be impartial, and to declare under oath that the accused must be guilty or they would not be in court,” Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a statement. “There is no place on the bench for someone who so deeply misunderstands the role of a judge and the administration of justice.”
Snyder, who is not an attorney, was first elected to serve as Petersburgh town justice in 2014. His current term would have ended at the end of this year.
Tembeckjian told The Times Union that Snyder handled cases until he officially left office but didn’t preside over trials.
“As I understand it, he primarily handled traffic matters, where either the defendant pleaded guilty or there was a plea bargain that the court accepted,” Tembeckjian said.
Snyder has agreed not to seek judicial office again.
Courts in New York do not allow automatic exemptions or disqualifications from jury duty for anyone, including judges.
The town of Petersburgh is nestled near New York’s border with Vermont and Massachusetts, about 30 miles west of Albany. It has a population of about 1,400 people.
