On February 23, 2010 a divided Panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, New York Supreme Court ruled in People v. Correa (2010 NY Slip Op. 01533) that the 2004 merger of the criminal courts in the Bronx into a single court with jurisdiction to handle both felonies and misdemeanors is unconstitutional.
In the absence of a stay, misdemeanor cases will again only be assigned to judges who have been appointed to the New York Supreme Court. The plan is for judges to continue sitting in hybrid parts, with misdemeanors being heard as Criminal Court cases and felonies as Supreme Court matters.
In dissent, Justice Rolando T. Acosta warned that the majority's "unbridled judicial activism effectively upends tens of thousands of mesdemeanor convictions in Bronx County over the past five years."
Those who need additional background information are referred to the link below to the New York City Bar. Report on the Merger of the Bronx Supreme and Criminal Courts, June 2009.
ABCNY Report on the Merger of the Bronx Supreme and Criminal Courts, June 2009