ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new, left-leaning nominee to lead New York’s highest court, bringing one of Albany’s most divisive intraparty clashes closer to a resolution nearly two months after state lawmakers rejected the governor’s original choice.
Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said on Monday that she would nominate Rowan D. Wilson, an associate judge who already serves on the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, to lead it as chief judge. Ms. Hochul simultaneously announced a second nominee to fill the vacancy that would be created by Judge Wilson’s elevation: Caitlin J. Halligan, a private lawyer who previously served as New York State solicitor general.
The nominees must be confirmed by the Democratic-controlled State Senate, which earlier this year blocked Ms. Hochul’s initial choice for chief judge, Justice Hector D. LaSalle, because of concerns that he was too conservative. The conflict pitted the governor against her own party as lawmakers rejected a chief judge nominee for the first time ever in New York, delivering an extraordinary blow against Ms. Hochul at the outset of her first full term.
The chief judge not only weighs in on matters that reach the Court of Appeals, but also administers the court system’s 16,000 employees and $3 billion budget.
Judge Wilson’s elevation would make him the first Black chief judge, and it could alter the perceived ideological bent of the Court of Appeals. Liberal critics said that the court had drifted to the right under the former chief judge, Janet DiFiore, who led a four-member bloc that consistently voted against the court’s three more liberal judges, including Judge Wilson. The effort by ruling Democrats in Albany to install a more liberal chief judge comes as state courts nationwide are playing more active roles in addressing cases of fundamental rights, from abortion to worker rights.
“I look forward to working with these talented individuals to elevate the esteem of our state’s highest court, protect New Yorkers’ rights and safety, and ensure that justice is administered,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement.
The confirmation process is expected to be smoother on this attempt, even though the mechanism Ms. Hochul used to nominate two candidates simultaneously has drawn criticism from Republicans and government watchdogs.
The governor, as mandated by law, picked her chief judge nominee from a shortlist of seven candidates assembled by a special commission last month. After the shortlist became public, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the State Senate majority leader, told reporters that she anticipated smooth sailing this time, and issued a statement praising the nominees’ records.
Other top Senate Democrats who had opposed Justice LaSalle, including Michael Gianaris, the deputy majority leader, and Brad Hoylman, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, also issued statements in support of the governor’s latest nominees.
Their coordinated message stood in stark contrast to the reaction after Ms. Hochul’s nomination of Justice LaSalle. The governor failed to rally enough support ahead of his nomination and forged ahead with his confirmation despite warnings that he faced stiff opposition.
The state’s top judicial post has gone without a permanent occupant for seven months since Ms. DiFiore resigned in late August. The remaining six judges on the seven-member court have apparently deadlocked three to three in several cases involving the rights of individuals when they are arrested.
Judge Wilson was nominated by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in January 2017 to serve as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals. Considered one of two consistently liberal judges on the court, he often found himself at odds with Ms. DiFiore.
Ms. Halligan, who has argued six cases before the Supreme Court, served as the state’s solicitor general from 2001 to 2007, and has also been general counsel to the former Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.
She was nominated several times by former President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but for nearly two and a half years, Senate Republicans blocked that appointment. Ms. Halligan formally withdrew her nomination in 2013. She is currently a partner at the law firm of Selendy Gay Elsberg PLLC.
Vincent Bonventre, a leading scholar on the court and an Albany Law School professor, described both nominees as impressive. While he said that they would not transform the court into a “leftist” body, he did note a shift in the ideological wind.
“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.
The Center for Community Alternatives, one of the advocacy organizations that had opposed Justice LaSalle, lauded Judge Wilson, but expressed reservations about Ms. Halligan’s record, noting her work at a prosecutor’s office and representation of corporate clients.
By nominating two candidates, Ms. Hochul appeared intent on pleasing progressives with the promotion of Judge Wilson to chief judge while mitigating opposition from the left to Ms. Halligan.
Even if Ms. Hochul’s nominees receive a warmer reception from Senate Democrats this time, potential turbulence remains on the horizon.
This month, Ms. Hochul successfully pushed a law to streamline appointments when a sitting Court of Appeals justice is nominated to serve as chief judge, as occurred Monday. Now, Ms. Hochul may fill the vacancy by simply picking one of the remaining candidates on the shortlist instead of embarking on a weekslong process to create a new list.
The new procedure was opposed by Republicans, who said that it was unconstitutional and that they were considering a lawsuit. They said the procedural change would effectively exclude candidates who had not applied for the top position from being considered as an associate judge on the court, whose members serve 14-year terms.
The opposition to Justice LaSalle was spearheaded by the Democratic Party’s left wing, and a coalition of unions and activists, over concerns that he was not progressive enough on abortion and workers rights. Justice LaSalle, who would have become the first Latino to lead the Court of Appeals, argued that his opponents had misconstrued his record. There were no Latinos on the most recent shortlist.
Grace Ashford contributed reporting.
Luis Ferré-Sadurní
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