ON GAY DIVORCE
Even though New York law prohibits gay marriage, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Drager has ruled that it doesn’t prohibit gay divorce. As reported by The New York Law Journal, Drager refused a woman’s claim that her partner could not divorce her because their same-sex marriage — conducted in Canada — is illegal under New York law. (In Hernandez v. Robles,, the Court of Appeals ruled that New York’s prohibition against same-sex marriages does not violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the state Constitution.) But Drager ruled that Hernandez did not address the question of whether New York must legally recognize valid out-of-state same-sex marriages, which are “governed by common law doctrines and comity.” Likewise, Drager ruled that the woman’s partner, who was neither the biological nor adoptive parent to two children born right before and during the couple's marriage, was still entitled to a hearing on custody rights.

SEAN BELL, DAY ONE 
The New York Times blogs from day one of the Sean Bell murder trial, offering an in depth look at the varying accounts of what took place on November 25, 2006, outside the Queens strip club where Bell was gunned down in a 50-shot barrage by plain-clothed police detectives. Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Cooperman is presiding over the bench trial. “There’s a hell of a lot more to this case than the 50 shots that were fired,” said Michael J. Palladino, head of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, as the three defendants arrived at court amid a vigil organized by the Reverend Al Sharpton. The myriad reader responses offer insight into a racially polarized state and criminal justice system.

THE FALLOUT 
Sadly, The Schenectady Daily Journal reports that Fulton County Family Court Judge David F. Jung — fresh off a report recommending his removal from the bench from the Commission on Judicial Conduct — might have attempted suicide Sunday night at his Canada lake house. The commission criticized Jung’s penchant for sending parties to jail for contempt — either in absentia or without legal representation, or both. “In considering the appropriate sanction,” the commission decision said, “we note that as a consequence of [Jung’s] disregard of fundamental rights, five litigants were sentenced to significant terms of incarceration, and the record indicates that at least three of those litigants served several months in jail on the unlawful sentence he imposed.” Additionally, Jung’s “continued insistence that his actions were consistent with law and his insensitivity to the overriding importance of protecting the rights of litigants as shown by his record, strongly suggest that if he is allowed to continue on the bench we may expect more of the same,” the panel found.

THE ELECTRICIAN'S DRUG DEN
Finally, The Staten Island Advance has a piece on one of the alleged Bonanno crime family associates indicted weeks ago in a massive federal racketeering bust. It appears that Michael Urciuoli now has a whole lot more to worry about after the feds enacted a warrant for his Tottenville spread: the place was apparently a cocaine assembly line. He and his wife, Susan, now face drug charges to boot. As reported by The Advance, when she asked to comment about the arrest outside her house, Mrs. Urciuoli asked, “Are you going to put that in the newspaper?” then promptly declined comment. Criminal Court Judge Desmond Green ordered The Electrician remanded without bail and released his wife on her own recognizance.