NJC Resources
Faculty member receives Rapallo-Scalia Award

Joseph J. Maltese, associate justice with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, received the Charles A. Rapallo and Justice Antonin Scalia Award in New York City earlier this month. The award is presented by the Columbian Lawyers Association of the First Judicial Department, an association of attorneys of Italian descent.

JOseph Maltese

Pictured from left: Columbia Lawyers Association President Marianne E. Bertuna, Thomas J. Principe, Hon. Joseph Maltese and Suzanne J. Adams. Photo by Rob Abruzzese, Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Rapallo-Scalia Award has been presented annually since 1966. It is named for Charles A. Rapallo, the first Italian American elected to the Court of Appeals of New York. Last year the award was renamed the Rapallo-Scalia Award following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the first Italian American on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maltese has presided in the New York Supreme Court for 17 years, including the past three years within the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. He also serves as the presiding justice on the New York State Litigation Coordinating Panel, which oversees complex litigation pending in more than one county of New York. Prior to serving the New York Supreme Court, he served on the New York City Civil Court and the New York City Criminal Court.

An alumnus of the NJC, Maltese joined the College’s faculty in 2000 and has since instructed nearly 20 classes, specializing in Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony.

Maltese is a retired brigadier general in the New York Guard and had previously retired from the U.S. Army Reserve after more than 30 years of service. He served as a part-time military judge in the U.S. Army Trial Judiciary for seven years. He tried active-duty courts martial in Germany and Panama and at several installations throughout the United States.

Past recipients of the award include Scalia, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Janet DiFiore.

NJC News