Hon. Michael A. Corriero

Judge Corriero was appointed to the Court of Claims in June 1990. Since 1992, he has presided over Manhattan’s Youth Part, a court set aside within the adult court system to deal exclusively with the cases of 13, 14, and 15-year-olds who are charged with the most serious and violent crimes.

He was previously appointed to New York State Supreme Court (1989 - 90) and also served as a Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York (1980 - 89). He lectured on criminal justice as an Adjunct Professor at Pace University (1976 - 94) and was an Assistant District Attorney for New York County (1969 - 73). He subsequently specialized as a private practitioner in all phases of criminal law (1973 - 80). Judge Corriero was also Assistant General Counsel to the Society of European Songwriters, Authors and Composers; a Legislative Assistant; and an Associate at Schiffmacher, Rochford & Cullen, a firm that specialized in municipal law.

Judge Corriero is an alumnus of St. John’s University School of Law (1967) and St. John’s University (1964). He graduated from St. John’s University College with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in social science. He was a member of the Law Review and served as an associate editor.

He is the author of a book entitled: Judging Children as Children: A Proposal for a Juvenile Justice System, to be published by Temple University Press, September 2006.

Additional legal writings include: The Involvement and Protection of Children in Truth and Justice-Seeking Process: The Special Court for Sierra Leone, The New York Law School Journal of Human Rights (Spring 2003 Edition); South African Paper-Proposals for a "Youth Justice Act," NYSBA Crim. Just. J. (Spring 1999 Edition); Sentencing Children Tried and Convicted as Adults, NYSBA Crim. Just. J. (Spring 1999 Edition); The Youth Part and Juvenile Justice, N.Y.L.J., Feb. 4, 1997, at 1; Youth Parts: Constructive Response to the Challenge of Youth Crime, N.Y.L.J., Oct. 26, 1990, at 1; and A Fresh Look at the Fashionable Fifth, 3 Kings County Crim. Bar Assoc. J., June 1987.

Judge Corriero is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Citizens’ Committee for Children’s Annual Founders’ Award (2004); The Howard A. Levine Award for Outstanding Work in the area of children and the law (New York State Bar Association 1999); The Livingston Hall Juvenile Justice Award (American Bar Association 1997); Outstanding Service on Behalf of Youth Award (ELEM 1996); The Conrad B. Mattox, Jr. Commonwealth Debate Winner (University of Richmond 1996); The Charles A. Rapallo Award (Colombian Lawyers Association 1994); and he participated as a Polsky Judicial Fellow at the Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Seminar (2003).

Judge Corriero has served as Chairperson of the Committee on Juvenile Justice of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Children and the Law; a member of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section; a Trustee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City; a member of the Advisory Committee of Citizens’ Committee for Children; a member of the Professional Committee of ELEM (Youth at Risk in Israel); and a board member of Transfiguration Grammar School Education Association.

In November 1997, the United Nations invited Judge Corriero to join a team of international juvenile justice experts to travel to South Africa and advise government officials on the creation of a juvenile justice system.

In April 2002, Judge Corriero traveled to Sierra Leone, Africa on a mission sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Human Rights Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. The purpose of the mission was to assist the Sierra Leone Bar Association in rebuilding its capacity to effectively function after a ten-year civil war. One of the significant issues confronting the Association and the Sierra Leone government was the reintegration into society of the numerous child soldiers who fought in the war.

He has traveled to Israel on several occasions at the request of ELEM, an American/Israeli organization, to consult on juvenile justice projects.

In October 2002, Judge Corriero addressed the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates at their 16th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia.

In July 2005, he was invited to Kazakhstan by the Soros Foundation to address government officials and child advocates on the establishment of a juvenile justice system.

He has delivered presentations on juvenile justice issues at institutions such as Tel Aviv University, the MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller foundation. He has also lectured on juvenile justice at many universities and law schools, including Columbia University, New York University, Fordham University, and the University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor.

Judge Corriero has testified at state and city legislative hearings on juvenile justice issues, delivered numerous addresses and participated in many state and national panel discussions.

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Last updated January 10, 2007