Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Photo L-R: Dominican Bar Association President Belliard,
Associate Professor Roure, Attorney Camilo,
Bronx Civil Court Judge Orellana, and
Puerto Rican Bar Association President Canales

On Monday, October 7, 2024, the Appellate Division, First Department celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a panel discussion, titled “A Spotlight on Moving Justice Forward: The Latino Community in the Law and Judiciary.”

Justice Bahaati E. Pitt-Burke, Chair of the Court’s Justice Forward Initiative, delivered opening remarks.

The program featured an in-depth conversation about the bar-to-bench pipeline, moderated by Miguelina Camilo, Counsel to New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The panel was comprised of Hon. Joaquin E. Orellana, a Judge of Bronx County Civil Court; Rosemarin Belliard, president of the Dominican Bar Association; Jason Canales, president of Puerto Rican Bar Association; and Dr. Jodie Roure, Associate Professor and Founding Director of the CUNY BMI Rising Scholars of Justice at John Jay College.

To view a video recording of the program, please visit the Court’s YouTube channel.