Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Rules of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Relating to Mental Health Professionals Panels

The New York Civil Liberties Union (“NYCLU”) respectfully offers the following comments and observations on the proposed amendments to the Rules of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, relating to mental health professionals panels (the “Proposed Rules”), published on March 4, 2024 by the Office of Court Administration (“OCA”) for public comment by June 3, 2024.

OCA has indicated that it has promulgated the Proposed Rules in response to the conclusions and recommendations rendered in a December 2021 report by Governor Kathy Hochul’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluations (the “Blue Ribbon Commission”). Yet the Proposed Rules address only the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendation that there be statewide uniformity of practice and standards in the Supreme Courts and Family Courts operating across the four Appellate Divisions with respect to mental health professionals panels. While we appreciate the need for uniformity of practice and standards in our state court system, we are concerned that, if promulgated, the Proposed Rules will heighten, rather than reduce or eliminate, the “bias, inequity [and] discrimination and violations of due process” identified by the Blue Ribbon Commission as inherent to the practices relating to mental health evaluations conducted on behalf of Family Court judges.