The Honorable John W. Sweeny Jr., a retired associate justice of the New York Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and Mahopac resident, passed away on Saturday, Oct. 25, at his home. He was 76.
Those who knew him called him a man of extraordinary intelligence, integrity and quiet grace.
Sweeny graduated with his A.B. in government from the University of Notre Dame and received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where he served on the Alumni Board. After beginning his career in private practice, he became administrative assistant district attorney for Putnam County, subsequently serving as confidential law secretary to two Supreme Court justices. He was elected as Putnam County Court judge, a multi-hat judgeship where he also heard cases in the Family, Surrogate and Supreme courts.
In 2000, he was elected as a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, ultimately serving as the senior resident justice for Putnam County.
In 2004, Sweeny was appointed as associate justice of the Appellate Division, First Department by Gov. George Pataki, the first Putnam County judge to sit in that court. He was made a constitutional justice of that court by Gov. David Paterson. He won re-election to the Supreme Court in 2014 and was reappointed to the Appellate Division by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In January 2019, he was chosen to complete the bench for several cases in the Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, making him the highest-ranking judge in the history of Putnam County since Chancellor Kent in the 1700s.
Among his many awards, Sweeny was recently honored as a Living Landmark of Putnam County, the U.S. Army Reserve Employer Support Award from the Department of the Army for “extraordinary employer support of army reservists,” the Society of Irish American Lawyers 2020 Distinguished Achievement Award, as well as a Distinguished Service Award by the Stephen P. Driscoll Lodge of New York State Fraternal Order of Police, FDNY members from Putnam County, the Knights of Columbus Lodge 6318, the VFW, and the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services.
Sweeny’s many professional leadership positions include being a former member of the Board of Directors and director of Continuing Legal Education for the Putnam County Bar Association. He was a former member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Family Court Judges of the State of New York, as well as the statewide Rules and Advisory Committee to propose family law legislation.
The chief judge of New York appointed Justice Sweeny to the Task Force on Reducing Delay in Civil Litigation and the Jury Trial Project. Additionally, he was a member of the Ninth Judicial District Committee to Promote Gender Fairness in the Courts, and a lecturer and moderator for numerous statewide judicial training seminars. He was also a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
He has served many positions for the New York State Bar Association, including as a member of the House of Delegates, and numerous committees, including the Committee on Supreme Court, the Committee on Judicial Administration, the Committee on Justice and the Community, the Committee on County Court, the Special Committee on Grand Jury Reform and the Betty Ellerin Commission on Women in the Courts.
He also contributed to local community events including as a volunteer at the 4-H Fair, Holiday on the Lakes Committee and prior to his judgeships, as president of the Putnam chapter of the American Cancer Society, and as a member of the Board of the Putnam Arts Council.
Active in the Irish community, he was a founder of the Putnam County Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and was grand marshal of the Putnam Northern Westchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He was named to the 2013 Irish Legal 100, which honors top Irish American lawyers, judges and scholars. The list included U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts and Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy.
With family roots in counties Antrim and Cork, Sweeny credited his Irish Catholic upbringing for instilling values of fairness and courtesy.
“The importance of treating every person with courtesy and dignity was drilled into me from an early age,” he said at the time. “Having a judge presiding who is treating them fairly and decently can be a source of comfort, even when the case doesn’t come out in their favor.”
Local attorney Joe Charbonneau knew Sweeny professionally, as well as through the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
“When I joined the DA’s office, he was a (Putnam) county court judge. As a young ADA, I had appeared before him many times and it was how I learned how to practice law,” said Charbonneau, who currently serves as an attorney for the Carmel Planning Board. “He went out of his way to make sure young attorneys had a fair shake. My first felony trial was before him. He was a complete gentleman, and it was a pleasure to try a case in front of him.”
Charbonneau said Sweeny was “firm but fair.”
“He had high expectations, so you had to be prepared,” he said. “He was a tremendous jurist.”
Charbonneau said he also knew Sweeny outside the courtroom.
“The judge was a pillar of the Irish community,” he said. “I got to know him through the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. He encouraged me to join, and I went to a number of annual meetings and got to know his contributions to Putnam.
“He had a quiet way of doing things that exuded confidence and integrity,” Charbonneau continued. “He had a keen intellect and knowledge of the law. I was always happy to see him at the head of the docket because I always knew that I was going to get treated fairly.”
Charbonneau said the Putnam County Bar Association honored Sweeny last week, although illness prevented the judge from attending.
“That was the last tribute he had before he passed,” Charbonneau said. “We gave the plaque to his wife, Alana.”
Carmel Town Councilman Frank Lombardi knew Sweeny well and called him a “man of great integrity.”
“I knew him for many years both personally and professionally,” said Lombardi, also a local attorney. “He was a man of great intellect and wisdom. He was always willing to discuss any issue, and he had a great sense of humor.”
Lombardi said Sweeny’s reputation throughout the state and the county was “that of a great man and a great judge.”
“He will be sorely missed as a judge and a friend,” he said.
Sweeny is survived by Alana, his wife of nearly 43 years, as well as his sons James (Kelcey), Brian and Patrick, and Michael Schmutzer, a chosen fourth son, and his family. He was the son of the late Justice John W. Sweeny Sr. and the late Isabel Sweeny. His brothers George (Margaret and niece Meave) and James predeceased him.
Visitation is Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 5 -9 p.m. at Jospeph J. Smith Funeral Hime, 692 Route, Mahopac.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the Archdiocese of New York, at St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac on Thursday, Oct. 30.
