NORWICH – Two candidates running for Supreme Court Justice in New York’s Sixth Judicial District attended Lobsterfest. This year, voters of the Sixth Judicial District will have the opportunity to elect three justices, who will each go on to serve 14-year terms.
Joe Fazzary, the current Schuyler County District Attorney and Michael Coccoma, who is currently an acting Supreme Court Justice and Otsego County Judge, attended the republican fund raiser to discuss their qualifications for the position.
The sixth judicial district serves Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler and Tompkins County. Fazzary said his qualifications for Supreme Court Justice include spending 15 years in Schuyler Court, the last 10 of which he spent as the district attorney.
“I was in private practice for seven years. I’ve had hundreds of cases and lots of experience,” Fazzary said. As a prosecutor, Fazzary said he was always firm, and had a felony conviction rate of over 90 percent.
In addition to trying cases, Fazzary explained he felt he should take proactive actions against crime, so he helped to start several community based programs. Including the Schuyler County Committee on Underage Drinking (SCUD), which worked to send letters to parents of every graduating senior in the county, explaining why the parents should not throw alcohol related parties for students graduating from high school or following the prom. A similar program, Operation Teen Proof helped businesses place identification verifiers in their stores to prevent teens from using fixed IDs to purchase alcohol.
When asked how he judged the success of the programs, Fazzary responded “In Schuyler County, there haven’t been any drinking related deaths of high school students since the program started.”
Fazzary also worked to secure grants for the local police and sheriff’s departments to help rid the county of drug dealers.
“I feel I owe it to my community. Anyone can prosecute cases as they come in, but this is a way to give back to the community,” Fazzary said.
Acting Supreme Court Justice Coccoma is also running for the position. Coccoma, who has been a judge for the last 12 and a half years, was appointed to the Supreme Court seven years ago. “I’ve carried out my duties in criminal court, family court, surrogate court and I run a drug treatment court,” Coccoma said. In addition to his duties in the court system, Coccoma also serves as an EMT in Cooperstown.
Coccoma feels his experience serving on state panels gives him a unique perspective on some issues. Coccoma served on the Family Court Advisory Committee and the New York State Matrimonial Commission. On the advisory committee, Coccoma says he helped review and look for ways to improve legislation. Issues included child abuse and juvenile delinquency.
The Matrimonial Commission, made up of 32 members, included 12 judges. The goal of the commission was to go around the state, listening to people discuss the problems they had with the system. Due in part to the findings of the commission, legislation was recently enacted to assign counsel to those who cannot afford representation during divorce proceedings.
“In addition to my trial duties, I feel my experience makes me uniquely qualified for the position of Supreme Court Justice,” Coccoma said.

e-mail: jlewis@evesun.com