The Second Rejection of Hector LaSalle
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nominee to lead the state court system was again rejected by her fellow Democrats in the state Senate during a Wednesday floor vote, ending a weekslong procedural standoff.
As I wrote last week in The Wall Street Journal, Justice Hector LaSalle’s nomination to be chief judge of the Court of Appeals was voted down by the Democratic-controlled chamber, 20 in favor to 39 opposed. Most Democrats voted against Justice LaSalle, who currently runs a midlevel appeals court based in Brooklyn, while most Republicans were in favor.
Leaders of the chamber previously said a floor vote wasn’t necessary after the chamber’s judiciary committee last month failed to advance Justice LaSalle’s nomination. Democrats on that panel expressed concerns about his previous rulings on workers’ rights and other issues. Senate leaders scheduled the Wednesday vote after a GOP Sen. Anthony Palumbo filed a lawsuit last week that asked a judge to force a floor vote.
The Wednesday vote was relatively unexpected, and it occurred while some of Justice LaSalle’s supporters weren’t present at the Capitol. That includes the two Democrats who voted for him in the Judiciary Committee — Luis Sepulveda and Kevin Thomas, who was in Dubai.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said their presence wouldn’t have altered the outcome. She and other Democrats in the chamber walked the line between holding the new vote and asserting that their first rejection of the nominee, by committee, was constitutionally sufficient. Palumbo’s lawsuit is going forward in Suffolk County, and Supreme Court Justice Thomas Whelan on Friday had pointed question for the Senate Democrats lawyers, Joshua Solomon reports in the Albany Times Union.
"Now normally when the executive branch and the legislative branch has a conflict, the judicial branch just grabs a box of popcorn and sits back and watch," Whelan said from the bench in his Suffolk County courtroom. "However, when one (branch) creates a constitutional logjam — that is in reality a constitutional crisis — it is the duty and the obligation of the judiciary to rule on the constitutional solution."
He said he would rule on Tuesday.
No Court of Appeals nominee has ever been rejected, marking a political blow to the governor. On Wednesday, Hochul praised the Senate for taking a floor vote—as she had called for—and said she would soon name a new nominee.
Republican consultant Bill O’Reilly told the New York Post that Hochul “wasn’t just out-voted, she was out-maneuvered, and that’s a significant public embarrassment.”
“But more importantly, today’s vote shows just how deep the rift in the New York Democratic Party has become,” he added. “She’s going to have to find a way to put a check on the crazy progressives because they’re really feeling their oats around now. It could be a very long session.”
THE QUESTION: This question was inspired by my spouse, who recently asked, where do the New York Yankees play? (“You’re the worst,” she said as I typed this.) Bonus: where did the Albany-Colonie Yankees play?
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 New Colossus” was written by Emma Lazarus to honor the Statue of Liberty. For years I thought the poem was affixed to some giant plaque on the statue’s base, but alas, it is not. I think it should be.