New York Gov. Kathy Hochul continued a fight with lawmakers within her party after Democrats in the state Senate voted down her nominee to the state’s highest court, an extraordinary rebuke that has emboldened her opponents.
I wrote two articles for The Wall Street Journal about the nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to the Court of Appeals. The first covered his unprecedented rejection by a state Senate committee on Wednesday. The second looked at what’s next for the Democratic governor, who misjudged the strength of the opposition to LaSalle and is currently considering a lawsuit that could force a vote on his appointment by the full Senate.
A Hochul spokeswoman said the administration had onsulted an outside litigation attorney. Since no Court of Appeals nominee has been rejected, the confirmation procedure has never been tested in court. On Thursday, the governor praised LaSalle — who currently runs a regional midlevel appellate court based in Brooklyn — as “an exceptionally qualified jurist.”
The whole episode has left Hochul politically bruised, Democrats said, and lawmakers and political observers said it could set a contentious tone in coming budget negotiations.
“We’ve only seen the first act former Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat who supported LaSalle, told me. “For some of the people who went way beyond what dignity and civility would have called for, there may be a grand finale that they’re not going to like.”
Progressives who questioned some of LaSalle’s decisions cheered the committee vote, and reiterated that they want to change the trajectory of the court. While all six Court of Appeals judges were appointed by either Hochul or her Democratic predecessor, the court had been led by a bloc of four relatively conservative judges in recent years, according to Albany Law School Professor Vincent Bonventre.
“The State Senate doesn’t need to tolerate @GovKathyHochul acting like a Republican—on judge nominations or in the upcoming budget negotiations,” tweeted Sen. Jabari Brisport, a Democrat from Brooklyn.
The showdown speaks to a widened interest in state judicial appointments that New York legislators said began last year when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and struck down New York’s gun laws. The New York State Court of Appeals last year also ordered a special master to draw new district lines for the U.S. House of Representatives after ruling that maps drafted by Democratic legislators violated anti-gerrymandering provisions.
The governor and her team believed LaSalle had a chance in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the morning of the hearing, according to people familiar with the matter. Hochul enlisted allies to call senators and personally lobbied committee members on LaSalle’s behalf, these people said. Despite the effort, two Democrats voted for Justice LaSalle, 10 Democrats voted to reject him and one Democrat joined the panel’s six Republicans to advance his nomination without recommendation.
GOP senators spoke favorably of Justice LaSalle’s candidacy during hours of committee testimony. The judge’s supporters said he might garner more support in the full chamber, which has 21 Republicans and 42 Democrats.
Senate Democrats have mocked the notion, and say the votes aren’t there either. “Imagine losing and then suing the people who defeated you solely so they can...defeat you again,” tweeted Sen. Julia Salazar, another Democrat from Brooklyn.
On Friday, former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman held a news conference to explain the legal rationale for having a floor vote. He said Hochul would have standing to bring a suit; it’s less clear if someone else would be able to file a challenge.
Lippman, whose tenure on the bench included progress on many items cheered by progressives, said he doesn’t want the state courts to be politicized. The current system is “merit-based,” he insisted, and it should be allowed to run its full course.
“I think this is very important for the future of our state and the future of the judiciary,” Lippman said.
THE QUESTION: Two governors have appointed all seven judges of the Court of Appeals. Who are they?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: The first private company to operate New York City’s subway was the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. The system opened in 1904.