Van White Admonished

Van H. White, a Rochester City Court judge, was admonished by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct in June 2024 for creating an appearance of bias or a lack of impartiality. The Commission found White participated in a public rally following the shooting of a 3-year-old boy by a stray bullet, on the same day a defendant in a related case was arraigned before a different judge. Separately, before arraigning a defendant charged in connection with the shooting of two Rochester police officers, White asked for a moment of silence and made sympathetic public statements about the relatives of one of the wounded officers.

The Commission also found White violated judicial ethics rules by posting a video to his personal website and Facebook page giving legal advice on how to act during a traffic stop, in a post that identified him as a sitting judge. In accepting the admonition, the Commission noted the misconduct occurred shortly after White took the bench and that he had committed to being more attentive to his ethical obligations going forward. White remained in office and continued serving his term.