Chief judge search again narrowed to seven candidates
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The Commission on Judicial Nomination recommended seven chief judge candidates to Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday. The governor is required to make her selection sometime next month. File photo via Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Jacob Kaye
The Commission on Judicial Nomination recommended on Friday seven legal professionals for Governor Kathy Hochul to consider nominating to the top judicial position in the state.
With the recommendations now made, the state could potentially see its next chief judge of the Court of Appeals seated to the bench by mid-to-late-April at the earliest, or late-May at the latest.
The commission, which was not required to make their recommendations for chief judge for another month, released their list after having spent the past month reviewing new applications and reconsidering old applications submitted last fall after former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore abruptly stepped down in August.
Their new list, which was prompted by the State Senate’s rejection of former chief judge nominee Hector LaSalle in February, includes several judges and attorneys who made the shortlist last fall or previous lists for vacancies on the Court of Appeals, and includes several new names.
Missing from the new list of recommendations is LaSalle, whose nomination sparked a bitter battle between the governor and State Senate Democrats. Also missing is Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, the deputy chief administrative judge for Justice Initiatives, who LaSalle said he was planning to tap as chief administrative judge should he have been confirmed. Richardson-Mendelson was among those supported by a coalition of progressive advocates who last fall began voicing their opposition to LaSalle.
Three of the current six judges of the Court of Appeals made the list released Friday, including Acting Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro, Shirley Troutman and Rowan Wilson. Though Cannataro was on the previous list, Troutman and Wilson were not. If Hochul were to nominate and the Senate to confirm any one of the three nominees, a new vacancy on the court would be created, giving Hochul another chance to influence the court currently comprised of almost entirely former Governor Andrew Cuomo-nominated judges.
Elizabeth Garry, the presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department, and Gerald Whalen, the presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, were also nominated. Like LaSalle, Garry and Whalen respectively run some of the most senior courts in the state.
Corey Stoughton, the attorney-in-charge of the Special Litigation and Law Reform unit of the Legal Aid Society, made the list for a third time. Staughton was recommended by the commission twice last year – both for the chief judge vacancy and for the vacancy created by the retirement of former Judge Eugene Fahey at the start of the year. Stoughton, who has spent the bulk of her career working in the nonprofit sector, including as a public defender, was one of several legal professionals to receive support from progressive groups during the previous nomination process.
Caitlin Halligan, an attorney at Selendy Gay Elsber PLLC, also made the list, marking the sixth time she’s been recommended for a vacancy on the Court of Appeals. The former solicitor general for the State of New York was first recommended to fill the chief judge vacancy in 2015 – the nomination went to DiFiore. She was also nominated for associate judge positions in 2015, 2017 and twice in 2021.
Though she wasn’t originally recommended to fill DiFiore’s vacancy, she wasn’t entirely absent from the process – Hochul sought to retain Halligan as an attorney in January, as tensions between the governor and the State Senate began, The Buffalo News reported.
In total, the commission received 54 applications during its expedited review process. Of those, 28 were women and 17 were of “diverse backgrounds,” according to the commission. The commission interviewed 25 candidates for the position and of those, 15 were women and 12 were “ethnic minorities or otherwise diverse.”
“I am gratified at the extraordinary quality and diverse backgrounds of the applicants received by the commission,” E. Leo Milonas, the chair of the commission, said in a statement. “That so many exceptional candidates were motivated to apply demonstrates the remarkable strength and depth of the legal profession in the state of New York.”
Now that the recommendations have been made, Hochul is required by law to make her nomination sometime between April 8 and April 23. Once she makes her nomination, the State Senate will have 30 days to confirm or reject the nominee.
A spokesperson for Hochul said the governor’s office was reviewing the list but declined to comment further.
It’s unclear if any of the same battle lines drawn during LaSalle’s nomination will be renewed during the process to fill the current chief judge vacancy.
Shortly after Hochul nominated LaSalle in late December, a number of Senate Democrats expressed concern over a series of past decisions the presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department had made from the bench, and said publicly that they would vote against the nominee when he came before the Senate.
The lawmakers, including nearly every senator from Queens, also said that they were concerned that LaSalle would uphold a slim conservative majority on the state’s high court.
Unions, reproductive rights groups, criminal justice advocates and progressive groups also opposed LaSalle’s nomination.
Like LaSalle, Cannataro faced opposition from progressive lawmakers and organizations – Cannataro was one of the four judges – DiFiore, Michael Garcia and Madeline Singas, were the others – to make up the conservative bloc. It’s likely he’ll face similar opposition this cycle.
Troutman could potentially be among the governor’s top choices. Hochul nominated the Buffalo native to the Court of Appeals bench in early 2022. If nominated and confirmed, Troutman would become the first Black woman to hold New York’s highest judicial position in the state’s history. Though she is not considered the most progressive member of the current construction of the court, Troutman often has voted with Wilson and Judge Jenny Rivera, the two most liberal judges on the court.
Troutman saw support from the Senate during her nomination in 2022 but several Senators expressed concerns over her past as a prosecutor – after Hochul nominated Troutman, Queens State Senators Michael Gianaris and Jessica Ramos both expressed disappointment that a legal professional with a public defense background wasn’t chosen.
“Our courts need a Chief Judge, so I’m glad to see this process move forward with a new shortlist,” Ramos, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement on Friday. “I’ll give this list of nominees my due diligence as we wait for the Governor to make her selection.”
Gianaris did not respond to request for comment.
Latinos for LaSalle, a group comprised of former Latino elected officials and attorneys, said on Friday that they were disappointed that the new list of recommendations did not include a legal professional of Latino descent. The group, which was formed shortly after opposition to LaSalle’s nomination began to grow, claimed that much of the opposition to the nominee stemmed from his ethnic makeup.
"As it was made clear with the travesty committed against Judge Hector LaSalle's nomination – no Latinos need apply when it comes to the top position in the state’s judiciary,” the group said in a statement. “Mission accomplished.”
