Judge heard Raucci vows

The judge who ruled that Steven Raucci’s emails should not be released to the public officiated at Raucci’s wedding ceremony and Raucci considered them on a first-name basis, according to emails written by Raucci.

State Supreme Court Judge Barry Kramer ruled that Raucci’s emails and a school district report about Raucci’s activities should be kept secret. He did not at the time disclose any personal connection with Raucci.

The Daily Gazette and the Albany Times Union appealed his decision without knowing that Kramer had a connection to Raucci. The Schenectady City School District, Raucci’s former employer, agreed to settle the case out of court and released more than 11,000 printed pages of emails but only in paper form, not electronic.

The relationship between Raucci and Kramer was revealed on page 7,758, in an email in which Raucci includes a draft of a thank-you letter to Kramer.

Raucci sent the draft to his new wife to see if she wanted to make any changes before he sent it to Kramer.

In the letter, which was addressed to “Barry,” Raucci said he and his wife Shelly asked Kramer to officiate at their wedding in 2005.

“On our way home we talked about the ceremony and how much we enjoyed you being the person we chose to marry us,” he wrote. “We also concluded that only someone pleasant, warm, and sensitive, could have chosen such a beautifully written wedding vow to read at our wedding. Once again Barry, thank you ever so much. You were absolutely wonderful.”

Raucci also wrote, in other emails, that his unit of the local CSEA union was instrumental in local Democrats’ campaigns, including candidates for county positions. Kramer is a Democrat but has not been cited specifically in Raucci’s emails reviewed so far.

Attorney Andy Rose, who represented The Daily Gazette in the suit to obtain the emails, said he would have considered asking Kramer to recuse himself and send the emails case to another judge if he had known about Kramer’s relationship with Raucci.

“Of course, I couldn’t know, because the emails were what we were in court for,” Rose said. “But I certainly would not go so far as to say Judge Kramer acted improperly in not recusing himself.”

Opinions written by the state Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics about similar situations suggest that Kramer should have disclosed that he had a connection to Raucci. But, the opinions say, he didn’t have to recuse himself if he felt he could be impartial. He could have instead asked both sides whether they objected to him hearing to case, listened to their arguments and then made a decision.

The committee also says that simply attending a wedding should be disclosed.

“Given the particularly significant and personal nature of the event, we deem it advisable, that for some reasonable period of time, the judge should disclose his/her attendance at the wedding,” the committee wrote in one opinion.

If the judge also has a “close social relationship” with the person, recusal “becomes a prime consideration,” according to the committee.

Kramer did not return a call seeking comment.

Emails reviewed Tuesday also included one in which Raucci’s soon-to-be wife equated his school district job with his service in Vietnam.

“I love you and want you to be content and happy, but your job is kind of like Vietnam,” Shelley Maxon wrote. “It consumes you more than 10 hours a day. You fight every day, battle and win wars. Think about it, the war ended 35+ years ago and you are still going strong.”

She told him she was worried because he was so often “short tempered” with her.

Other emails show that he also blew up at school employees regularly, emailing them threats and refusing basic requests — including appeals for heat in the winter.

Raucci was also punishing some of his victims by setting off explosives on their vehicles and homes and committing other acts of vandalism. He is now serving 23 years to life in prison for those acts.

Maxon begged him to deal with his anger.

“I am so concerned with what this is doing to you. I see it, and so do you, but nothing will change until you do something to calm things down, physically and mentally,” she wrote. “Please, I beg of you to see the big picture, and what is truly important in life and that is me, yours and my health, Dana, your mom and enjoying our life together.”

She added that the school district would get along without him when he retired.

“Yes, your job is very important and you are getting paid a lot of money, but remember, the Schenectady School District will keep going on and on for years after you retire and it will run entirely different,” she said. “I know you can’t change who and what you are. I am just hoping that you will find some peace and tranquility in our ‘GOLDEN YEARS’ with me.”

Raucci refers to his service in the Vietnam War on many occasions in emails, but it is not clear what branch of the military he was in or how long he served.

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