The Civil Division of the Supreme Court in New York State has jurisdiction over civil cases with no limitations on the monetary value. For example, if a construction worker dies on a construction site, their family may sue the contractor for unsafe working conditions in the Supreme Court. The New York City Supreme Court also has a Criminal Division for hearing felony-level criminal cases. 

The number of Supreme Court justices in each district is fixed in the New York State Judiciary Law. There are 49 Supreme Court justices in Brooklyn. Twelve judges will be elected in the November election. Only twelve judges appear on the ballot, meaning the decision to elect these twelve folks has effectively been made for us already by our local party leaders. 

Supreme Court seats in Brooklyn are county-wide, meaning they are elected to serve all of Kings County, or Brooklyn. The State Constitution creates a unique and indirect method for selecting which Democratic candidates for Supreme Court will appear on the general election ballot, using a nominating convention rather than a standard primary election. Read about the problematic judicial system in New York here, and in our 2019 explainer, A Fair Shot: The County Party and Judicial Elections in Brooklyn.

Although there are 12 judges on the ballot for 12 positions, you should read about these judges here.