NY Senate Dems float change to judicial nominating process in wake of Hector LaSalle battle

ALBANY — Senate Democrats are looking to overhaul the process of nominating judges to the state’s highest court by doing away with a commission tasked with vetting and recommending candidates.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) floated the possibility of a constitutional change on Tuesday, saying she’s in favor of revamping how judges are chosen to serve on the Court of Appeals.

The potential change comes on the heels of the Senate’s unprecedented rejection of Hector LaSalle, Gov. Hochul’s initial choice to be the chief judge of the state’s top bench.

“We’re really looking at the efficacy, or lack thereof, of this commission,” Stewart-Cousins said of the Commission on Judicial Nomination, currently tasked with screening candidates and compiling a list that the governor then uses to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals.

The commission, composed of 12 members appointed by the governor, legislative leaders and representatives of the judiciary, has been in place since 1978. The “merit-based system” was intended to strip politics out of the process.

Stewart-Cousins said many Dems in her chamber would rather see the governor have free choice on court nominees, with the nomination still subject to Senate approval.

“For us, having a group of people submit a limited number of people every time you are looking to fill a vacancy is no longer something we would like,” she said.

A constitutional change in New York must be approved by the Legislature in two sessions separated by an election before appearing on ballots for voters to weigh in. It’s not immediately clean when the legislation would be drawn up and voted on as lawmakers are currently negotiating an already-late state budget with the governor.

The nominating process has been a contentious subject in recent months after Hochul selected LaSalle from a short list compiled by the commission in late December last year, six months after former chief judge Janet DiFiore announced she was stepping down.

LaSalle’s nomination drew heated backlash from progressives and union leaders who cast some of his decisions as anti-labor and questioned his past work as a prosecutor.

Many Dems argued LaSalle, who would have been the state’s first Latino chief judge, would maintain a conservative direction they believe DiFiore took the Court of Appeals in recent years.

Democrats were also angered by the court’s rejection of political maps drawn up by the Dem-led Legislature last year.

Initially, Senate Democrats refused to grant LaSalle a full floor vote after rejecting his nomination during a committee hearing in January.

That prompted a lawsuit from Republican lawmakers, which resulted in a Long Island judge determining that future nominees must get a vote by the full chamber. LaSalle was formally rejected in a 39-to-20 vote on the Senate floor in February.

No prior chief judge nominee had been rejected by the Senate since the 1978 “merit-based” system was put in place.

Stewart-Cousins’ comments come a day after Hochul nominated Rowan Wilson, an associate judge already serving on Court of Appeals, to the chief judge post. Wilson’s nomination now goes before the Senate.

Several prominent Dems who opposed LaSalle have indicated his bid will face little resistance.

The governor also named Caitlin Halligan, a lawyer who previously served as state solicitor general from 2001 until 2007, to fill the remaining vacancy on the seven-member panel.

The double nomination was made possible due to a recent Hochul-sought change approved by the Legislature allowing her to select an additional person from the current short list compiled by the commission should a sitting Court of Appeals justice, such as Wilson, be elevated to chief judge.

While critics have questioned the constitutionality of the measure, Stewart-Cousins said she is not worried about the possibility of legal action.

“I’m not terribly concerned about it, because, again, I think for us, we’re not excited about the way the process is now,” she said.