Long Beach Judge Corey Klein should be censured for 'unseemly' conduct, state commission finds

A Long Beach City Court judge, who improperly stopped police from booting an acquaintance’s car and demanded to be addressed as judge at a school board meeting where he argued his son be named valedictorian, should be censured for misconduct, a state commission found.

Judge Corey E. Klein and his attorney, Deborah Scalise, agreed with the censure and waived further proceedings, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Monday.

The commission’s 11 members concurred that Klein violated rules governing judicial conduct and that his actions were "unbecoming of a judge and he violated his ethical obligations," according to its May 29 determination. But the commission stopped short of recommending sanctions beyond censure, noting that Klein "has acknowledged that his conduct was improper and warrants public discipline."

It added: "We trust that [Klein] has learned from this experience" and will in the future follow the rules governing judicial conduct.

Klein could not be reached and Scalise did not respond to a request for comment Monday after the commission announced its determination. An appeals court judge may now accept that determination or request a review.

In a statement Monday, Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said "It corrodes public confidence in the judiciary when a judge lends the prestige of judicial office to advance a private benefit. Doing so impulsively, in an unseemly public argument over who should be a high school’s honoree, or as a favor to a parking ticket scofflaw, is especially irresponsible."

If the commission determines that a judge has committed judicial misconduct, it may "direct that the judge be privately cautioned, publicly admonished, publicly censured, removed from judicial office or retired for disability," according to its website.

Klein, 57, ran unopposed in 2024 for his second 10-year term as city judge. Before winning an uncontested election in 2024, he was corporation counsel for the city for 20 years. His court, which is operated by the state, handles cases including municipal summonses and moving and traffic violations.

The car booting incident happened in 2022, when a public relations professional and podcaster Klein knew texted him to say that her car was getting booted for unpaid parking tickets, according to the determination. At the time, Klein was seeking a meeting with the woman to discuss "fundraising strategies to help his son construct an adaptable surfboard for disabled children," the determination said. 

Minutes later, Klein called the cellphone of a police officer in the city’s traffic bureau and the sergeant on duty at headquarters. Officers removed the mechanical boot that they had placed on the woman's black Mini Cooper. The commissioners concluded, based on Klein's statements, that the duty sergeant "believed that [Klein] was acting in judicial capacity when he said not to boot the vehicle," according to the determination. That afternoon, the woman paid $465 she owed on four outstanding tickets. She did not pay any boot-related fees. The meeting about fundraising never took place.

Klein "recognizes that he improperly intervened" on the woman’s behalf and appeared to have used his "judicial office to obtain special treatment from the police" for the woman though he told the commission he had not intended to do so, according to the determination.

The school board incident occurred at an April 12, 2024, Jericho Union Free School District Board of Education meeting, which was public and is posted on YouTube. In a roughly 20-minute exchange with board members, their attorney and the district superintendent, Klein argued that his son, whom he said had gotten "an A+ in every single class except back in eighth grade," had been robbed of the valedictorian distinction by the district’s grading policies during the pandemic. At one point, according to a statement of facts that Klein and his lawyer signed, Klein addressed the district’s lawyer: "You can refer to me, Counsel, as judge." 

According to the statement of facts, he also "repeatedly shouted and/or raised his voice and otherwise acted in a discourteous manner in an effort to challenge the Board of Education’s policy for selecting class valedictorians."

Klein recognizes that "it was improper for him to invoke his judicial office at a public school board meeting, and his conduct toward the school district attorney was discourteous," according to the determination. He "apologizes for his behavior and commits to avoiding such conduct in the future."