Arrest Warrant Issued Against Prominent Rockland County Rabbi For Contempt Of Court

ROCKLAND COUNTY(VINnews) — An arrest warrant was issued Monday against Rabbi Yehuda Oshri after he failed to appear in court despite being subpoenaed to testify in a local trial between the East Ramapo School District and the NAACP.

Oshry failed to appear in court despite a subpoena and a week of attempts by attorneys to reach him by phone, through lawyers, at his home or business.

“If he doesn’t show up today, at any moment he could be brought here in handcuffs, which is something I do not want and I’m sure he does not want,” U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel said Monday morning

When Monday’s proceedings ended just after 2:30 p.m, Seibel called out “Is anyone here named Rabbi Oshry?” but there was no response.

“I’m reserving the right to issue a warrant for his arrest without further notice, and probably will,” Seibel said.

Oshry  a religious activist and matchmaker was a key witness in a trial that could change how East Ramapo elects its school board.

The Spring Valley chapter of the NAACP is suing the East Ramapo school district in an effort to change the current at-large election system to a ward-based system, which they say would increase the number of black and Latino board members.

The board has been dominated for the last decade by Orthodox Jewish men. The NAACP claims that this is the result of ‘slating’ efforts by that community, meaning that a group of candidates with common goals register under separate campaign committees to receive campaign funds.

Rabbi Oshry was identified on Monday by former district clerk Catherine Russell as the person who always came to the district office to collect petition sheets for any open seats on the school board. He also dropped them off, and he’s believed to have been involved in gathering signatures.

Plaintiffs are seeking Oshry’s testimony about how he vetted the candidates for the private school’s slate of school board candidates. Lawyers for the NAACP are trying to prove the district elections are in violation of Senate Factor 4, a section of the Voting Rights Act that forbids “the exclusion of members of the minority group from candidate slating processes.”

“From what I can tell, [Oshry] has made no effort to comply with the subpoena,” Seibel said. “Courts can’t function if people disregard court process. It is essential to doing justice that every person respect court process and show up.”