The New York Commission on Judicial Nomination has named the following seven candidates for the position of Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals:
New York Court of Appeals Acting Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro;
Yale Law School Professor of Law Abbe Gluck;
Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, Justice Hector D. LaSalle;
Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, Justice Jeffrey K. Oing;
Albany Law School President and Dean Alicia Ouellette;
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Judicial Initiatives and Court of Claims Judge Edwina-Mendelson; and
Attorney-In-Charge of Special Litigation and Law Reform at the Legal Aid Society, Corey Staughton.
All candidates are strong nominations, so my focus of Acting Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro is not meant to detract from the other nominees. Acting Chief Judge Cannataro would make an excellent chief judge for many reasons but his current position does not mean he is a lock for the permanent position. The brilliant jurist Richard Simons became Acting Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1992 after the resignation of Chief Sol Wachtler. Judge Simons would have made an excellent chief judge but then-Governor Mario Cuomo made New York history by appointing Associate Judge Judith Kaye to the leading position on the Court.
Governor Kathy Hochul can make her appointment from the list no sooner than December 8th but no later than December 23rd.
Here is a New York Law Journal article discussing the nominees and quoting my brilliant former colleague, Professor Meredith Miller.
(40 years ago this week, one-hit wonder, Toni Basil, was climbing the charts at No. 3 with the hit "Mickey.")
Photo by Tracy Collins