The Honorable Ruth Pickholz

The Hon. Ruth Pickholz is an acting justice for the New York County Supreme Court (Criminal Term) in the First Judicial District of New York. Pickholz was designated to the bench by Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman in 1998.

Pickholz was initially appointed to the Criminal Court of the City of New York by former Mayor David Dinkins in 1991. She was subsequently re-appointed by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (2000) and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2010).

Prior to her appointment, Pickholz served as counsel for the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety in New York City. Before that, she worked as an attorney for the New York City Department of Investigation (1987 to 1988) as well as a criminal defense attorney for the Legal Aid Society (1976 to 1986).

Pickholz earned a B.A. in English language and literature from Hunter College at the City University of New York in 1971. Then, in 1975, she completed a J.D. at Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology.