My case was first up on the 10 a.m. docket, and I wanted to arrive early, right when the courthouse opened at 9 a.m. so I could go to the Attorney Lounge and do my last hour of prepping in silence. As I approached the courthouse on foot, my lead plaintiff, Senator George Borrello, who was arriving at the same time, commented on the large crowd that was starting to gather on the courthouse steps. They were holding American flags and some held signs as you’ll see in the photos below.
As we approached the crosswalk at the intersection, I heard someone shout, “There she is!” Suddenly the crowd all turned towards us and erupted into loud cheers and energetic applause, which continued for several minutes as I crossed the street and then climbed the steps. I was so surprised by their amazing greeting, so I smiled and thanked them for coming, walked through the crowd, up the steps, and entered the courthouse. There were some familiar faces in the mix, but mostly strangers I’d never met.
Once inside the courthouse, after flashing my attorney ID card in order to circumvent the security line that was forming, I headed up the grand staircase that leads to the courtroom and Attorney Lounge. I could still hear and see through the floor-to-ceiling walls of glass, the crowd cheering outside, and as I started up the staircase, I looked up and saw much to my surprise what appeared to be a few court employees smiling big and clapping for me! One of them even pumped his fist in the air, cheering me as I ascended the stairs. I was completely stunned. I hadn’t said a word yet, and total strangers were applauding me outside and inside the courthouse! How did they even know who I was? Unreal!
I walked down the hallway and entered the Attorney Lounge, and as I had hoped, I was the first one there. I took out my notes and started reviewing for the umpteenth time. Senator Borrello came in to offer me some coffee, and just then the first of the attorneys who had other cases on the docket that day started to arrive in the Lounge. Each one came in with total shock and an edge of excitement after having to navigate the hoards of people streaming in from the outside and going through the security check point.
None of the attorneys failed to ask of the room in general, “What the heck is going on here today? Whose case is this?!?!” They of course didn’t know the name of the case, or its subject matter, but they knew, and verbalized, that they had never seen a crowd like this at court before. Any court! I kept my head down and studied my notes, as Senator Borrello explained the case to them.
After about half an hour more, and then it was show time. I exited the Lounge and headed towards the courtroom. As soon as I turned the corner into the atrium, I saw a crowd of a couple hundred people, most standing, some sitting in chairs that had been set up, theater style, around a large TV screen. The courtroom could only hold about 60–70 people, so the rest would be watching on that screen via closed circuit television.
Though the atrium was packed, it was relatively quiet considering the number of people there. Some were talking, some were praying. They saw me come into the atrium area and they broke out in applause, again! The sea of people parted to make way for Senator Borrello and me to pass through and get over to the courtroom. Along the way, people wished me luck and patted my back as I walked through the crowd, “Go get ’em Bobbie Anne!” “You’ve got this!” “We are with you!”
I was mentally “in the zone,” so I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just smiled and nodded and kept walking. The courtroom doors were closed. The bailiff saw us coming and opened the doors. Inside, the courtroom was utterly packed! Every single seat filled, all sitting silently, until they saw me enter, when they jumped to their feet and began to applaud as we walked up to the front row. Literally everyone was on their feet smiling and energetically clapping for me. There was only one person I saw, as I approached my seat in the front row, who was not on his feet, was not clapping, and was not smiling. I said to myself, ah, there sits my opposing counsel from the Attorney General’s office. And I was right.
Once the courtroom quieted, the clock tolled 10 a.m., the doors behind the bench swung opened, the bailiff shouted, “All rise!”—and we did, as the five New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division justices took the bench. Presiding Judge Smith called the case, “First up, George M. Borrello v. Kathleen Hochul.” The Attorney General’s office went first. I won’t detail his argument, but you can certainly watch it for yourself to hear what he had to say, as well as my rebuttal thereafter.
After presenting my defense to the Attorney General’s appeal, and answering the questions that a couple of the judges threw at me, I concluded my argument, “If there are no further questions your Honors, then, I rest on my brief.” You could hear a pin drop. I turned from the podium, and within seconds, I heard the rise of thunderous cheering and whooping, coming from the atrium. The couple hundred people outside the courtroom sounded like they were at a sporting event and their team just won the championship game!
As I re-entered the atrium, everyone was on their feet, clapping, shouting words of thanks and of congratulations. I was so relieved it was over. I had been preparing for that hearing for weeks and weeks. It was too important not to. Now it was over, and I could breathe. Cameras or recording devices of any sort are prohibited in courtrooms. But now in the atrium, people had their cell phones out, taking videos, photos, reaching out to shake my hand. As I got to the top of the grand staircase, I saw a man positioned on the steps below. He was snapping photos with his huge, impressive camera. I looked right at him and smiled. He was a stranger to me. But I had noticed him when I first arrived at the courthouse a couple hours earlier. I figured he was with a news organization.
To be honest, I don’t know how I did in my arguments. I have no idea if the panel of judges will rule in my favor and uphold the lower court’s decision to strike down Hochul’s illegal quarantine regulation. We likely won’t hear for weeks. But, I do know that my reference to entitling this article “Thunderstruck” is not because I think I hit it out of the park, so to speak.
