It was in June 1985 that a friend on the Richmondville Town Board suggested Herb Needleman run for Town Justice.
“He told me who was running, and I put my name in,” Judge Needleman said Friday.
“I won and I’ve been there ever since.”
Nearly 40 years later, Judge Needleman is stepping down from the bench, and so is his wife, Arlene, who was the Court Clerk during his tenure.
His first years in office were quiet, but as traffic picked up on newly-opened I-88, so did the court workload.
“In those days it wasn’t so busy, but with the State Police on I-88, we started handling lots of tickets,” Judge Needleman said.
The State Police sometimes had a plane monitoring speeding on I-88, Ms. Needleman recalled, and the plane often flew low.
“One man who got a ticket speeded up when he saw the plane because he thought it was going to crash and he wanted to help,” she said.
Not all of Judge Needleman’s cases were I-88 violations. One he remembers involved a dentist who was also a volunteer coach at Cobleskill-Richmondville. The coach was charged with sex abuse and forcible touching of two of his girl players.
The case came to Judge Needleman in 2008, and because of the high interest and crowd, it was moved from the Richmondville Court to the Richmondville Volunteer Emergency Squad building.
It was a jury trial, which “was difficult for a town court,” he said.
The jury deliberated for only 20 minutes when the foreman came out.
“I thought she was going to ask a question,” Judge Needleman said. “But she said, ‘We’ve reached a verdict.’ ”
The coach was found not guilty.
Besides serving Richmondville for 39 years, Judge Needleman also presided at courts in Blenheim, Broome, Cobleskill, Carlisle, Sharon and Fulton––three times.
“It was have gavel, will travel,” laughed Ms. Needleman.
It was somewhat unusual to have a spouse as the Court Clerk, but Judge Needleman wrote a letter to get Ms. Needleman approved.
“Thirty-five years later, someone wanted to see the letter, and I can’t believe I found it,” Judge Needleman said, chuckling.
He also served 10 years in the State Magistrates Association, which helps village and town justices.
With the association, Judge Needleman participated in an educators’ workshop held at the Marine Base on Parris Island, South Carolina.
Justices visited stations at the boot camp, and at the recruits’ graduation, a general noted that one of the magistrates had been at Parris Island years ago as a recruit.
“I was the only one, and I raised my hand,” Judge Needleman, the Marine veteran, said.
He’s seen the job grow over the years, with increasing rules and regulations.
“There are very few jailable offenses now,” he said. “That’s not good, bad or indifferent, but it’s much more complicated.”
He’s liked the position, adding that “you have to like it to want to do it.”
Ms. Needleman, too, said she liked her role, and though she won’t miss it, “I’ll miss the people.”
Jefferson Justice Lynn Hait is covering the Richmondville Court since Judge Needleman retired. The Richmondville post will be on the November ballot, Judge Needleman said.