By: Anthony Rifilato
"This year I'm not coming back," joked McGinity.
After 28 years as a judge, McGinity is retiring and planning on taking it easy for a little while. He could have retired years ago. But at 76, and after an extended term, McGinity has reached the mandatory retiring age. If it were up to him, he would continue working.
"I love this job," he said. "But I should move on to another phase of my life."
McGinity has a nice corner office on the third floor of the Nassau County Supreme Court building, with big windows, a huge desk, leather chair, and his own secretary and clerk. The office is in disarray from packing things up, and though his numerous degrees and awards are being put in boxes, they are testament to McGinity's legacy and career which included landmark rulings in New York State.
McGinity was born in Garden City in 1927, the eldest of six children. In 1930, his family moved to Baldwin, his mother's hometown.
At a young age, he knew he wanted to become a lawyer, especially since his mother, Mildred, was one of the few women to earn her law degree from Fordham University in the early 1940s.
"I think there was only one or two [women lawyers]," said McGinity. "I used to commute to Xavier High School in New York City from Baldwin while my mother was commuting to Fordham."
Also encouraging the future justice was his father, Leo, a reporter for the New York Times, and his two uncles, who had their own real estate law practice in Mineola.
After a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, he graduated from Georgetown Univeristy in 1950 and received his LL.B from New York Law School in 1954.
Though he began practicing at the family firm, McGinity's sights were on criminal law. Across the street in Mineola, McGinity would volunteer for criminal trials.
"That's how you'd get some trial experience," McGinity said. "I was more interested in criminal law."
He eventually started a law firm with his cousin, and the brother of Senator Alfonse D'Amato. He earned such a good reputation that in 1969 he was appointed to the office of councilman at the Town of Hempstead, where he served for eight years. At that time, McGinity said, towns like Levittown were burgeoning in population and the landscape of Nassau County was forever being altered.
"It was an interesting time because the population was growing in the Town of Hempstead," McGinity said.
In 1976, he was appointed to the Nassau County Court by Governor Hugh Carey, and his career trajectory continued unimpeded. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1981; appointed Supervising Judge of the Nassau County Criminal Courts in 1983; appointed Nassau County Administrative Judge in 1986, and by 1996, Gov. George Pataki tapped McGinity for a seat on the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
"Judge McGinity is well known throughout the judicial community," said Nassau County Administrative Court Judge Edward G. McCabe. "He is well respected by his peers."
It was a respect that McGinity earned. He is perhaps best known for his controversial decision in 1992, when he ruled that the county's method of assessing property unconstitutional, particularly in communities such as Roosevelt. Back then, he said, homes built during the 1960s were assessed using 1938 construction costs, and the taxes in minority areas were astronomical compared to more affluent communities.
"The taxes on those homes was enormous," McGinity said. "They seemed to be so far out of proportion with the sales price. You didn't have to be an expert to decide this was unfair."
McGinity said tax judges from across the United States literally laughed at a meeting he attended when he told them how Nassau County taxed its residents. "They virtually fell off their chairs," said McGinity. "This was the only place in the country that didn't reassess every 10 years."
Although his decision was reversed by the State Appellate Court, McGinity's ruling had an enormous impact in Nassau County, which led to the eventual reassessment in 2002.
"It was a momentous case and a telling decision," said McCabe. "He kept forcing the issue that the assessment in the county was this archaic thing."
While he is aware of the confusion caused by the recent assessment, he said it should have been done years ago before the county sank into financial doldrums, and noted how under former County Executive Thomas Gullota, Nassau County floated bonds when the assessment on commercial property was reduced, which helped bankrupt the county. "He [Gullota] should have reassessed when I told him to do it," said McGinity.
McGinity was also involved in many other high-profile cases, but a major turning point in his career came in 1996, when he was appointed by Gov. George Pataki to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Second Judicial Department, which covers New York City counties such as Kings (Brooklyn), Queens and parts of Richmond (Staten Island), as well as Nassau, Westchester and Rockland Counties, among others. Because it includes such a vast population, McGinity said the 2nd Judicial Department covered nearly half of the state's population and carried about 40 percent of the workload in the state.
"I loved it," said McGinity. "It's a challenging place."
There, McGinity was responsible for appeals following lower court rulings, which involved lawyers arguing criminal and civil cases to judges in panels of four.
"We each give our various opinions," said McGinity. "If we disagree with the facts found in the lower court, we can conclude that the facts were otherwise. We have that power."
Out of all his colleagues, McGinity was perhaps the most opinionated. "Most times, I would dissent," he said. "I may feel the defendant may have not received a fair trial."
Sometimes a case may reach the New York State Court of Appeals, though many times, McGinity said, that was rare. On two or three occasions, McGinity said the court of appeals reversed the appellate court's majority ruling and agreed with McGinity's dissent, which would ultimately lead to a new trial.
And it's new things that McGinity has his sights on. Maybe, he said, he'll continue law with his son, a lawyer practicing real estate law. But first, he's going to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife, and spend time with his six children and 15 grandchildren. And he will always look back on his distinguished career with pride.
"I consider myself very fortunate to serve the courts," said McGinity.
