Manhattan judge censured for courtroom 'experiment' with his own handgun and a stapler
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct found Judge Jeffrey A. Gershuny deceived a police witness by claiming his pistol was in a shopping bag. It was a stapler.
Photo: Ajay Suresh / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
- The state Commission on Judicial Conduct censured New York City Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey A. Gershuny of New York County in a determination dated Oct. 2 and announced Tuesday (CJC, Gothamist).
- At an Aug. 5, 2025, suppression hearing, he showed the courtroom his unloaded personal pistol, said he was putting it in a shopping bag, and quizzed a police witness about the bag; it held a stapler (CJC).
- A court officer said she was uncomfortable, and a captain told him a supervisor had advised against it, the commission found. Gershuny suppressed the gun; prosecutors declined to prosecute and the case was dismissed.
- Gershuny agreed to the censure, has no prior discipline and no longer brings his gun into the courtroom. His term runs through 2031 (CJC).
- State law lets some NYC judges carry licensed handguns in court; the commission urged the Office of Court Administration to review those rules (CJC, Gothamist).
A Manhattan Criminal Court judge who told a police witness he was putting his own handgun into a shopping bag — then secretly swapped in a stapler — has been publicly disciplined.
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct censured Judge Jeffrey A. Gershuny of the New York City Criminal Court, New York County, in a determination dated Oct. 2 and made public Tuesday. The commission found he "intentionally deceived a witness" and undermined public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary, Gothamist reported.
What happened in court
According to the commission's findings, Gershuny was presiding on Aug. 5, 2025, over a suppression hearing to decide whether a police search that turned up a handgun was lawful. During a recess he went to his chambers for a shopping bag and a stapler. Back on the bench, out of view of most of the courtroom, he took his licensed SIG Sauer P365 pistol from its holster under his robe, ejected the magazine and asked a court officer to confirm it was unloaded.
The officer told him she was uncomfortable and called her supervisor. A court captain then told the judge her own supervisor had advised against the plan and told him not to give the gun to anybody, the commission found.
When the hearing resumed, Gershuny announced what he called "a little experiment." He showed the empty pistol to the witness and others in the courtroom, said he was putting it in the bag, and instead placed it by his foot and put the stapler in the bag. Over the prosecutor's objection, he questioned the officer about how he could tell a gun was in the bag, then revealed it held a Swingline stapler.
At the end of the hearing Gershuny suppressed the gun, saying the officer had told a "convoluted story" about seeing a bulge. Prosecutors then declined to prosecute and the case was dismissed, the commission said. It took no position on whether the suppression ruling was correct.
The discipline
Gershuny agreed to the facts and to a censure. The commission said he has no prior disciplinary record, was contrite and cooperative, and no longer brings his firearm into the courtroom. He has been a Criminal Court judge in Manhattan since 2025, after earlier service in Brooklyn and Queens, and his term expires at the end of 2031, according to the determination.
State law generally bars licensed handguns in courts, but judges of certain New York City courts, including the Criminal Court, are exempt. A state ethics opinion advises those judges to keep their guns concealed and safeguarded on their person while on the bench, which the commission said Gershuny failed to do. It urged the state Office of Court Administration, which has no policy on judges carrying guns in city courts, to review the rules and make sure judges and court officers know them. Gershuny did not immediately respond to Gothamist's request for comment.
- NYS Commission on Judicial ConductDetermination: Matter of Jeffrey A. Gershuny (Oct. 2, 2026)
- GothamistA NYC judge brought his gun into court for an 'experiment'. Now he's censured.
- NYS Commission on Judicial ConductNews
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