Justice Arthur Schack believed the rule of law protects us all

Chuck Otey's Pro Bono Barrister

May 11, 2016 By Charles F. Otey, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Justice Arthur Schack. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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“To be, or not to be?”

Justice Arthur Schack answered that eternal question, posed in a Shakespearean soliloquy, just about each and every day. And he did so in unique style.

Aptly put, “To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them?”

Justice Schack spent most of his life taking “arms against a sea of troubles.”

His weapons were many: a thorough knowledge of this country’s history, its promise and the power to improve lives available to a Kings County Supreme Court justice.

His life story is that of a man who never accepted “outrageous fortune,” most notably when the victims were working people or were disadvantaged in some other way.

Some might have seen him as quixotic, for he certainly took public risks in his unrelenting quest to deploy the law as the last true refuge of the individual citizen.

He angered “birthers” by lacing into a litigant who sought to perpetuate the myth that President Barack Obama was born in Africa and a Muslim.

He sent the banking and real estate industries into brief panic when he refused to permit the taking of people’s homes without rigorous due process.

I had known Justice Schack for many years prior to his becoming a Civil Court judge in 1999. He was a very dedicated volunteer to the Bay Ridge community, as is his wife Dilia, who devoted many years to leading the Ragamuffin Parade Committee.

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Justice Schack Fearlessly Used Law to Right Wrongs

On occasion, as a friend, I respectfully suggested that there were easier paths to follow than those he often chose, which often led to the major irritation of huge financial nationwide interests.

His only perceptible change in course came when higher courts ruled against him in a few cases. But the change was, it seemed, in form only. He never truly gave in to any higher authority so long as he knew the law was on his side.

And, he really knew the law. As a longtime member — and, for the past year, president — of the American Kings County Inn of Court, he showed a remarkable memory and a very deep understanding of the law that governs us, all the way back to the Magna Carta.

Justice Schack lived in at least two worlds: One was his home community of Bay Ridge, where he resided with his wife Dilia and their two children, Douglas and Elaine; the other was the Brooklyn legal community, which he often electrified with articulate, edgy and controversial decisions.

A dedicated union man, he started out as a teacher at Bay Ridge High School. He became United Federation of Teachers (UFT) chapter chair and spokesperson, and saw the importance of law in protecting the rights of union members. He studied to become a lawyer and then landed what was — for many, including this writer — the ideal job: counsel to Major League Baseball.

Just before he was to be installed on the Supreme Court bench back in 2003, a columnist wrote the following (paraphrased) headline with the appropriate story: “Why Would Someone Give Up Being Lawyer for Major League Base-ball Just to Become a Judge?”

The answer became readily apparent over the years, through his several stunning decisions.

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Paula Katinas Tells Us More About Justice Arthur Schack

Bay Ridge Eagle Managing Editor Paula Katinas, who also knew Justice Schack well over the years, listed some of his many activities and deeds.

“Schack was born and raised in Bensonhurst. He attended P.S. 205, Seth Low Junior High School and Stuyvesant High School. He went to Brooklyn College and graduated with a degree in history. He earned a master’s degree in history from Indiana University in 1968. Schack worked as a high school social studies teacher from 1968 to 1982 and was a chapter chairman and delegate of the UFT from 1973 to 1982. He earned a law degree from New York Law School in 1980,” Katinas wrote in a recent article. “He met his wife Dilia through the UFT during his teaching days. He was a chapter leader and she was a representative for School District 15.”

Katinas continued, “He worked as a counsel to the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1982 to 1998, when he was elected to the New York City Civil Court of Kings County. He served there until 2003, when he was elected to the New York State Supreme Court.”

An outpouring of love flooded the Eagle offices following word of his passing, as readers will find within accompanying articles. Here are but a few of the warm words received and compiled by fellow Eagle staffer Rob Abruzzese.

“Artie Schack was one of the finest judges ever to sit on the bench in Brooklyn,” said Hon. Lawrence Knipel, administrative judge of Brooklyn’s Supreme Court, Civil Term. “He was brilliant, insightful and he was one of the hardest working people that we’ve ever had. He would work nights; he would come in on weekends. He loved the law and the bench and his colleagues loved him. I’m brokenhearted at his passing. I really am. He was a friend and a really good guy.”

Abruzzese wrote, “Judge Schack began his judicial career in 1999 when he was elected to the Kings County Criminal Court. He has been a member of the BBA since 1998.”

“He was a friend for over 20 years,” Hon. Frank Seddio told Abruzzese. “Arthur was a real solid judge who understood the law, and he practiced with such a great style.”