Dabney appointed to Buffalo Housing Court

• Share on
• 
• 
• 
• 

Buffalo Housing Court, Part 17 of Buffalo City Court. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel

After months of speculation, Buffalo City Court Judge Phillip Dabney Jr. has been named the city’s new Housing Court judge.

Dabney, 55, was a fill-in judge for Housing Court several times this year and that experience  prepared him for being appointed to the position for the coming year, said Eighth Judicial Administrative Judge Kevin Carter.

“I’ve heard that he’s been doing a really nice job. He seems to be serious about it. He also wants to do it, so that’s an important factor,” Carter told Investigative Post.

Dabney, a Buffalo native, was an attorney in private practice for 17 years and legal counsel for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority for two years before then-Mayor Byron Brown tapped him to fill a vacancy on Buffalo City Court in December 2020. He was elected to a full, 10-year term the following year. The Erie County Bar Association deemed Dabney “qualified” for the job — the second-lowest rank in the association’s four-tier ranking system for judicial candidates.

In April he began presiding over a specialized lead court that handles lead paint-related housing violations cited by the Erie County Department of Health.

Dabney, 55, succeeds Patrick Carney, who retired this month after 30 years as a City Court judge. Carter applauded Carney’s dedication during his 14 years of handling cases in Housing Court.

“I think that Judge Carney’s heart was in the right place. He always wanted to do the right thing. I believe that he was a hardworking judge; he was not the guy that was missing in action,” Carter said.

Carney drew criticism from some residents and housing activists for his reluctance to impose fines on property owners with violation and for how long cases lingered in court during his tenure.

“It’s the same throughout history. Anybody in the position to make a decision had people who disagreed with them,” Carter said.

Carter is trying to reassemble a Housing Court advisory council that has been inactive for three decades. Carter said he anticipates Dabney will be receptive to the panel, which will oversee the court and make recommendations to the judge.

“I think that Judge Dabney would have a listening ear when I meet and have a conversation with him,” Carter said.

Dabney is married to Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney, a former chief of staff and deputy mayor in the Brown administration. Rodriguez-Dabney has been a vice president and chief diversity officer at Roswell Park since leaving city government in 2023. That same year Brown named her Buffalo’s representative on the board of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., where the former mayor is now president and CEO. 

Two of Dabney’s former clients sued him for malpractice, according to court records. In both cases the clients alleged Dabney provided inadequate representation by failing to communicate with them and missing filing deadlines, resulting in adverse outcomes in their cases. 

One, Cornelius Boykins, hired Dabney in 2015 to help him navigate the application process to become a state corrections officer. The other, Dominique Calhoun, hired Dabney that same year to represent her in a lawsuit alleging mistreatment by Buffalo police.

Investigative Post reached out to Dabney and Carney for comment, but neither was available to speak.

Vote for our top story of 2024

I'Jaz Ja'ciel