After 14 years
Dolin bangs the gavel for the last time


NEW SCOTLAND – After 14 years as a town judge, Thomas Dolin is stepping down to "explore the possibility of running for other elective office," he announced last Friday.

Dolin, a Democrat, was first elected in 1992, and has since been re-elected four times.
"I’ve always had an interest in town politics," Dolin told The Enterprise this week. He and his wife have been discussing his possibilities, he said.

Rules on judicial conduct do not allow him to talk about political issues until his resignation becomes official on April 15, he said, although there is widespread speculation he will be running for town supervisor.

Supervisor Ed Clark, who has run twice on the Republican ticket, said this week he has not yet decided if he will seek re-election in the fall.
"He’s certainly welcome to run," Clark said of Dolin, adding, "We’ll see how it works out when I decide what I’m going to do."
"He did a good job," Supervisor Clark said of Dolin. Clark and Dolin have known each other "for many years" and they "get along fine," Clark said, adding that there is "very little inter-mingling" of their responsibilities.
Dolin’s replacement is decided by town board vote, said Clark. "That’s a thing political parties do" Decide who they want to support," he said.

Kenneth Connolly, a Republican who served as town justice in New Scotland for 20 years, and continues to serve as the village justice in Voorheesville, has offered to fill the post until the fall elections, Clark said. Connolly would fill in until the election, but will not run, Clark said on Tuesday. However, after last night’s town board meeting, Clark intimated to The Enterprise that John T. Keenan, III was a candidate for the post.

Democratic Councilwoman Deborah Baron, before the start of the meeting, had introduced Keenan to the board and town officials. Keenan, a lawyer in an Albany law office specializing in divorce, was appointed recently by the board to handle the town’s animal control cases. Clark suggested that the Democratic board members, who hold a 3 to 2 majority, were considering Keenan for the job.

The town needs to weigh the advantages of appointing someone who will then run for the post, versus appointing an experienced judge, Clark said.

The town’s other judge, Republican Margaret Adkins, is up for re-election this fall.
"I think it would be a great solution," L. Michael Mackey, the Democratic chair for the town, said on Tuesday about the offer made by Connolly. "Judge Connolly is an excellent judge."

Judge Dolin

Dolin, who is 68, has lived in Voorheesville for nearly 40 years. He has three grown children, and four grandchildren, he said.

He practiced law for 29 years before becoming a judge, he told The Enterprise. "I did a lot of commercial lending and trusts and estates work," Dolin said of his years as an attorney.
Dolin said that becoming a judge is frequently "an aspiration of young attorneys," and, when the opportunity came along for him, he took it.
As an attorney, Dolin said, "I always used to look at one side of a case." But as a judge, it is his job to fairly look at both sides of every case, he said.
"I think the town of New Scotland is very lucky, we have a low crime rate," he said.
When asked what he has learned during his years on the bench, Dolin responded jokingly, "I’ve learned that people have a hard time remembering to get their cars inspected.
"It’s been very interesting and educational," he added.
During his tenure, the court’s starting time has been moved earlier to 6 p.m., and the town has also added two morning sessions, so "people have a choice of morning or evening," based on what is more convenient for them, Dolin said.
The court has also initiated a credit-card system for people to pay fines, which people seem happy with, he said. "We have generally updated our computer capability," he added.

The increased enforcement of drunk-driving laws can often require additional hearings, which has put an additional burden on judges, he said, regarding how his role has changed during his tenure.
Over the past 14 years, "the intensity of the job has increased," Dolin said. "I think there has been a modest increase in teenage problems."
Dolin said that he has been struck by the danger in methamphetamine and crack-cocaine use. The two drugs "are problems that seem to be increasing," Dolin said. "That scares me."
The drugs are incredibly addictive and have "damaging effects," he said. "The people that have succumbed to it are really in trouble."
Methamphetamines, Dolin said, "are becoming readily available" That’s a problem."
Dolin said the increasing problem is that, by the time the user arrives in his courtroom, "They’ve already been exposed to it" and succumbed to it."
He spoke of one case where an individual "pleaded with me to put him in a rehab facility." Addicts generally don’t stop until they run out of money, Dolin said.
"Meth, I think, is on the rise," Dolin said. "Young people might think of it as a thrill, and not realize the damaging effects and how addictive it is."
"It’s been a very positive experience," Dolin said of being a judge. "I hope I’ve contributed something," he added.
Adkins has worked with Dolin for just over three years, she said. "I enjoyed working with him" He will be missed," she said of her colleague.
Dolin is "very highly respected" a real credit to the bench," said Mackey.

Judge Connolly

Kenneth Connolly has been a Voorheesville resident since 1968. He and his wife, Diane, have three children.

Connolly began his career in sales and marketing, and attended night school to earn his law degree. Since the start of his legal profession, he helped re-enact the state’s death penalty, aided in the implementation of the DNA databank, and the adoption of a sex-offender registry related to New York’s version of Megan’s Law.

Connolly, a Republican, was first elected as a New Scotland justice in 1979. As a judge, Connolly has a reputation for being fair, he told The Enterprise earlier. "I really think I have been fair and treated people with respect and dignity," he said.

Connolly could not be reached for comment this week.

Dolin told The Enterprise that he has "the highest regard" for Connolly. "He is an excellent judge and one of the finest attorneys I’ve known."