New York Gov. Kathy Hochul face-planted in silly last year when she nominated Judge Hector LaSalle to lead the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Senate Democrats roundly rejected LaSalle — first in committee and then on the floor. She’d received fair warning that LaSalle’s voting record, especially on abortion rights and unions, would make confirmation all but impossible, but she stuck to her guns, even not-so-subtly suggesting that Dr. Martin Luther King would’ve wanted Democrats to give LaSalle a break.
But that’s all behind us now. Hochul announced a new nominee on Monday, one her party might actually like. She’s going with Rowan D. Wilson, who already serves as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals. Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern describes Wilson as a “Black progressive titan of the New York legal world,” which isn’t just a great line for a dating profile bio, it also leaves little doubt that the balance of the court will shift to a four-to-three liberal majority.
Wilson will replace former chief judge Janet DiFiore, an Andrew Cuomo-delivered punch in the face who led a four-member conservative bloc that consistently voted against the court’s three other judges. This bloc likely cost Democrats the House when it rejected a Democratic-drawn congressional map. Cuomo did nominate Wilson in 2017, but it’s hard to come up with anything really good to say about DiFiore. We wish her a happy retirement. (Oh, hey, that’s polite enough for New Jersey.)
PREVIOUSLY: NY Dem Gov Kathy Hochul Might Just SUE NY Dems Who Blocked Her Not-So-Great Judge Pick
The Court New York Deserves is already on board with Wilson’s nomination.
The NY Working Families Party praised WIlson’s record on workers’ rights and gun violence.
Hochul also announced that she’ll nominate Caitlin Halligan to replace Wilson as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals. Currently in private practice, Halligan served as New York State solicitor general from 2001 to 2007 and has argued six cases before the Supreme Court. Former President Barack Obama had repeatedly nominated Halligan to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but Senate Republicans blocked her appointment until Halligan formally withdrew her nomination in 2013. There are filibuster-shaped boot prints on the backs of so many qualified Obama judicial picks, while Republicans eagerly bumrushed Donald Trump’s unqualified hacks and right-wing zealots onto the federal bench.
Halligan is currently a partner at Selendy Gay Elsberg PLLC, which has done pro bono work advancing LGBTQ rights and boasts more than 50 percent female equity ownership. (Although 20 percent of the firm identifies as LGBTQ, “Gay” in the firm’s name actually refers to founding partner Faith Gay.)
State law required that Hochul pick her chief judge nominee from a special commission-assembled shortlist. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the state Senate majority leader whom Hochul fought and lost to during the LaSalle debacle, told reporters she expects a much smoother confirmation process this time. The New York Times reports that “other top Senate Democrats who had opposed Justice LaSalle, including Michael Gianaris, the deputy majority leader, and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, also issued statements in support of the governor’s latest nominees.”
Republicans might bluster over how Hochul nominated two candidates simultaneously, but time is somewhat of the essence here. DiFiore resigned in late August, leaving the top judicial post vacant for several months now, and the six remaining judges have reportedly deadlocked three-to-three on some important cases.
Albany law professor Vincent Bonventre, who closely studies the court, agreed that Wilson and Halligan’s new roles will change the court in ways that most liberals will appreciate.
“The court will be leaning more toward, in these close cases, protecting the rights of accused rather than law and order, protecting workers rights, than business, and so on,” he said.
We can’t wait.
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