My name is Mike Nolan, and I want to be your next Town Justice. I'm a former prosecutor, and I will bring experience, integrity, an independent voice and a commitment to service to this community with me to the bench.

Experience: After graduating cum laude from Cornell law school, I worked several years in private practice with two top firms in Albany and Rochester. I have also worked for almost 7 years as an attorney in the state court system, including as a law clerk to Judge Richard Wesley at the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court. I'm the only candidate who has ever argued a case before the Court of Appeals - and I've done it twice. I've also handled over 70 cases in the Appellate Division - the State's second highest court. Finally, I served 3½ years in the Monroe County District Attorney's office, where I prosecuted hundreds of cases in local courts, including Pittsford's, before being promoted to the Appeals Bureau. There, I helped prosecute more than 60 felony cases, including almost a dozen homicides. I prosecuted notorious sex offender James Comfort in both the trial and appellate courts, and I co-wrote the petition to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Angel Mateo - the first death penalty case in Monroe County in over 30 years. I am also a published legal author, and I served as a faculty member at the New York Prosecutor's Training Institute (NYPTI), teaching other prosecutors.

Independence: Judges should be elected based on their qualifications, not their political party. I'm proud of the fact that Judge Wesley - a prominent Republican and Governor Pataki's first appointee to the high court - asked me - a lifelong Democrat - to be his first new clerk when he was appointed to the New York Court of Appeals. He picked me despite our political differences because he admired my work at the Appellate Division, where we both served. As it stands now in Pittsford, as a practical matter, one political party has a monopoly on who sits as Judge. We need to change that.

Service: Since moving to Pittsford over 10 years ago, I have taken an active role in the community. I have coached youth teams at the YMCA and for the Pittsford Mustangs, and I have been active in my church, including serving as the founding chairman of our Children's Justice Committee. Being Town Justice to me represents another way to serve this great community. One way I intend to demonstrate my commitment to service is by asking the Town Board to reduce the Town Justice's compensation by 25%. There has been a lot of talk lately about judges salaries at the State level, and I agree with Chief Judge Kaye that some judges are underpaid. At the local level, however, I believe our judges are overpaid. Particularly where, as in Pittsford, one party has controlled judgeships, paying high salaries smacks of cronyism, and this seriously undermines public faith in our judicial system.

No one epitomizes the ideal of service to me more than former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, a triple amputee who lost his limbs when a grenade exploded next to him during the Vietnam War. I was privileged to spend several days with Senator Cleland last year, and it is an experience that not only reaffirmed my belief in service to the community, but one that will inform the ideals of justice that I will bring to the bench. I hope that this website has given you some insight into who I am and why I want to be your next Town Justice. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to call me at 224-6722 or email me at mike@nolanforjudge.com. Thank you, and God bless.