Scrutinize is a nonpartisan nonprofit tracking New York judges using public records. This page contains metrics analyzing the records of one trial judge. Our metrics are not a rating or a grade.
Each of our metrics is a product of rigorous legal research and data analysis of public sources. Click “What this measures” under any metric for what it counts and the years it covers, and “Read more” for the full methodology.
The bar under each metric compares this judge with the other judges in the same county who have that metric. “Higher than 80% of judges in Kings County” means the judge’s number is higher than eight in ten other Kings County judges, on that one metric. Higher is not better or worse by itself: a high Publication Rate means more decisions made public, while a high number on most other metrics means more reversals, more sentence years cut, or costlier bail. Follow the “Compare in …” link to compare trial judges by any of our metrics.
Not all of our metrics cover all judges in the state. For example, the excessive sentence findings metric does not cover judges who never decided a criminal matter; such judges will show that metric as “Not applicable.” Other judges may have presided over criminal matters but appellate courts have not found any of their sentences excessive; such judges will show the metric as a zero.
Profile data snapshot: .
Trial court metrics
Read each metric as a fact about Judge Kaplan. Publication Rate · 0.1 decisions per year means: 1 published decision over 13 years. The bar under it compares that with the other New York County judges who have this metric: higher than 20.3% of them. Nine metrics in all: five measured, four not applicable.
Admonitions or censures from the Commission on Judicial Conduct
0
This metric counts publicly available public disciplinary actions (admonitions or censures) issued against a judge by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. A value of 0 means we did not find a public determination; it does not rule out non‑public outcomes and pending matters. Read more
Dataset range: All public admonitions and censures from January 1, 2000, through October 13, 2026.
How often this judge publishes a written decision
0.1
In New York, many trial-court written decisions are not automatically published online, and judges have discretion over whether to make written decisions publicly and freely available through the State Reporter database. This metric shows how often a judge’s written decisions appeared in that database, normalized per year. Higher values mean more decisions were publicly accessible; they do not necessarily reflect the judge’s caseload or the merits of the decisions. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2025.
How often a higher court overturned a decision to admit contested evidence
When defendants challenge evidence as unlawfully obtained, trial judges decide whether it should be suppressed (excluded) due to constitutional violations. This metric shows the percentage of appeals from this judge's cases that discussed suppression issues where an appellate court reversed the judge's denial of suppression. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2025.
Appellate findings that a sentence was excessive
0
New York appellate courts can reduce a sentence they find "excessive" or "unduly harsh" as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice. This metric counts how many times an appellate court reduced a sentence imposed by this judge after a trial (excluding guilty pleas) on that ground. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2025.
Prison years reduced by appellate findings that a sentence was excessive
0
This metric sums the total number of years appellate courts removed from sentences imposed by this judge after a trial (excluding guilty pleas) when reducing sentences as 'excessive' or 'unduly harsh.' Higher totals reflect more years reduced. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2025.
Cases reversed on appeal and moved to a different judge
0
In rare cases, an appellate court overturns a trial judge's decision and also directs that the case be reassigned to a different judge after it returns to the trial court. This metric counts how many times appellate courts ordered reassignment away from this judge. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2025.
When a court specifies monetary bail in New York, it must offer multiple alternative forms, including at least one unsecured or partially secured surety bond. Commercial (insurance-company) bail bonds typically involve a nonrefundable fee paid to a bail bond company. This metric shows the percentage of this judge's bail decisions (cash, commercial bond, and partially secured surety bond) where the judge set only these three forms and the amounts set resulted in a commercial bond fee that was lower than both cash bail and the partially secured surety bond deposit. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2025.
When monetary bail is set, New York law requires courts to include an unsecured or partially secured surety bond among the forms offered. A partially secured surety bond (PSSB) is secured only by a deposit (up to 10% of the bond amount), and that deposit is generally refundable if court obligations are met. This metric shows the percentage of this judge's cash, commercial bond, and partially secured surety bond bail decisions where the judge set only these three forms and the upfront deposit required for a PSSB was not the lowest-upfront-payment option among the forms offered. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2025.
An estimate from the Cost of Discretion report of how many more years of pretrial detention this judge’s bail and remand decisions caused than the average judge’s would have in the same cases, after accounting for the charges and the defendant’s record. It covers bail-eligible arraignments in New York City criminal courts from January 2020 to June 2022 and counts 97 days of detention for each additional person detained. Only the fourteen judges the report identified carry a number. A zero means the judge was among the 245 judges studied but not among those fourteen; it does not mean the judge detained at or below the average. Read more
Dataset range: January 1, 2020, through June 30, 2022.
Decisions
Each entry is a written decision by Judge Kaplan. Published Decisions appeared in the State Reporter database because Judge Kaplan chose to make them available to the public, which is what the Publication Rate metric counts. NYSCEF decisions were filed in the courts’ electronic filing system but were not sent for publication to a wider audience. Therefore, they are not counted in the Publication Rate metric.
Methodology
Where the data comes from and how each figure is calculated.
Scrutinize is a nonpartisan nonprofit tracking New York judges using public records. This page contains metrics analyzing the records of one trial judge. Our metrics are not a rating or a grade.
Each of our metrics is a product of rigorous legal research and data analysis of public sources. Click “What this measures” under any metric for what it counts and the years it covers, and “Read more” for the full methodology.
The bar under each metric compares this judge with the other judges in the same county who have that metric. “Higher than 80% of judges in Kings County” means the judge’s number is higher than eight in ten other Kings County judges, on that one metric. Higher is not better or worse by itself: a high Publication Rate means more decisions made public, while a high number on most other metrics means more reversals, more sentence years cut, or costlier bail. Follow the “Compare in …” link to compare trial judges by any of our metrics.
Not all of our metrics cover all judges in the state. For example, the excessive sentence findings metric does not cover judges who never decided a criminal matter; such judges will show that metric as “Not applicable.” Other judges may have presided over criminal matters but appellate courts have not found any of their sentences excessive; such judges will show the metric as a zero.
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Analysis run 14 October 2026