Althouse: "We can now presume that all 7 Judges of the New York Court of Appeals, the top court in the state... will have been appointed by Cuomo by the end of his second term.""

November 5, 2014

"We can now presume that all 7 Judges of the New York Court of Appeals, the top court in the state... will have been appointed by Cuomo by the end of his second term.""

"Right now, most of them are Republican appointees. The federal equivalent would be if all 9 Supreme Court Justices were appointed by President Obama."

My son John calls this the "Most underreported story of the night."

17 comments:

mccullough said...: Cuomo should run for President.; 11/5/14, 12:09 PM
damikesc said...: I think most non-New Yorkers view NY as pretty well screwed up beyond words anyways and didn't (and likely won't) notice. Most expect Progressive states to have terrible court systems.; 11/5/14, 12:23 PM
Wince said...: Is there a confirmation process in NY?; 11/5/14, 12:25 PM
Birkel said...: Also underreported: water is wet!
Also underreported: California's Supreme Court has a member appointed by George Deukmejian.; 11/5/14, 12:41 PM
Birkel said...: Also underreported: None of the current judges have anywhere close to the intellect of Benjamin Cardozo.; 11/5/14, 12:43 PM
RecChief said...: actually, here is another underreported story:

GOP gains majority of another 5 state legislative chambers, now controlling 67 of 98 legislative bodies at the state level.; 11/5/14, 1:00 PM
RecChief said...: and it looks like Angus King, Independent from Maine, may caucus with Republicans in the next senate.; 11/5/14, 1:01 PM
Laura said...: Also under-reported: senility at the big house.; 11/5/14, 1:08 PM
Drago said...: RecChief: "GOP gains majority of another 5 state legislative chambers, now controlling 67 of 98 legislative bodies at the state level."

Republicans = whiteys = permanent minority!!!eleventy

Oldies but goodies (garage especially will appreciate this): http://firedoglake.com/2008/11/11/republicans-seek-permanent-minority-status/

Good times, good times.; 11/5/14, 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Where is Crack to tell us why the Democrats actually won?

Wasn't he predicting a Democrat win? And he kept justifying his prediction with, "Who all said Romney would win, I was right!"; 11/5/14, 1:16 PM
RAH said...: Are these judges term limited? If not why would the be replaced in the next 4 years?; 11/5/14, 1:36 PM
m stone said...: We ex-New Yorkers also tend to view NY as screwed up beyond words. My exclusively (well, one exception) liberal,large extended family living there heap praises on Cuomo and apparently love the taxation-life.

Can I assume that only cases that originate in NY would make it to the NY Appeals court?; 11/5/14, 1:40 PM
MadisonMan said...: The results last night spring from the election in which Althouse ditched McCain.

All has occurred as she has foreseen, young master. The force is strong in this one.

(Star Wars reference so it'll go right over Althouse's head)

NOW do you all see why it has happened this way?; 11/5/14, 2:10 PM
khesanh0802 said...: I am underwhelmed by this factoid.; 11/5/14, 3:32 PM
Richard Dolan said...: The NY Constitution stipulates that the term of office for a judge on the Court of Appeals is 14 years (measured from date of appointment) and that a judge cannot serve after Dec 31 of the year in which the judge turns 70. Last year, there was a blog post here about the proposed constitutional amendment in NY that would have changed that provision to get rid of the age cap. Gov Cuomo did nothing to support that proposition, and the voters rejected it. At the time there was considerable speculation in NY that Cuomo's reason was exactly what Jaltcoh is suggesting -- that Cuomo wants to appoint all of the judges to the Court of Appeals.

In appointing new judges, the Gov is required to pick from a group of seven whose nominations are sent to him by a judicial selection committee. Usually but not always, the committee knows whom the Gov wants to appoint, and by some miracle that person is included in the names sent to him. Earlier in his tenure, Cuomo appointed two judges to the Court (Rivera and Abdus-Salaam).

This year two of the remaining five (both Republicans) are ending their terms (Judge Graffeo because her 14 year term ends later in Nov), and Judge Smith because he turned 70 in 2014). Cuomo declined to reappoint Judge Graffeo (she is 62 and sought reappointment), and instead nominated a Dem judge to replace her. When that judge takes office, probably in Dec, the judges nominated by Democrats will have a 4-3 majority. When Cuomo replaces Judge Smith, it becomes 5-2. Next year, the Chief Judge turns 70. He was an appointee of a Dem governor, and that won't change anything. The following year, Judge Pigott (a Rep) turns 70, and Cuomo will get to replace him. The last (Judge Read, also a Rep) was appointed in Jan 2003, and her term expires in Jan 2017. Cuomo's term as Gov extends to 2018, and so he will have appointed all seven by then.

Whether the story is underreported or not, it is only something that an attorney who practices in NY is likely to care about. And, believe me, the attorneys in NY with an appellate practice are well aware of the changes that are coming.; 11/5/14, 3:53 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't live in New York. I appreciate the explanation of how the rules work there. It sounds like everyone is following the law. Now we can all see how well it works for New York to have judges all from one party. I think this will be a great learning experience.

Just like we are all learning what it means to elect someone whose best strength is in making speeches--to the point where people faint when he talks. We have six years of speeches so far. I guess we will get two more before we decide if we want to do that again.; 11/5/14, 4:40 PM
a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...: Ticket splitting in Dallas led to the election of nominally Republican Susan Hawks as DA, ousting black democrat Craig Watkins of 'free the falsely accused' fame, not why he was rejected. Contemporaneously, there was the rejection of a Republican contender running against the Dallas County Judge (executive). The Republican contender had spoken of wishing his opponent's voters would go spend their food stamps instead of voting.; 11/5/14, 5:39 PM