Bronx State Senators Criticize Hochul LaSalle’s Choice of Chief Justice Bronx Times

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Since being announced as Governor Kathy Hochul’s nominee to the New York State Court of Appeals last month, centrist judge and candidate Hector LaSalle has drawn fierce opposition from progressives and unions ahead of a contentious confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

LaSalle risks becoming the first judicial nominee to be rejected by the state Senate, as he faces opposition from 14 Democratic senators, including Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianarisa, Democrat of Queens, who publicly declared that he would vote against LaSalle in the event of a complete election. Senate vote.

Hochul needs 32 votes, including some from the 21-member Senate Republican minority group as well as Democrats who support LaSalle, for his nominee to be confirmed by the chamber.

But LaSalle has his supporters, some of whom rallied with the governor on Saturday in the Bronx and urged the Senate to give LaSalle a “fair hearing” in his bid to succeed former Chief Justice Janet DiFiore.

Some supporters, like state senator Luis Seplveda, have drawn lines in the sand, directly targeting the candidate’s detractors like progressive state leader Gustavo Rivera, who he says is murdering “character and judicial history.” of La Salles.

I’m pissed, said Seplveda, who said he would “die on that hill” when it came to confirming a LaSalle. “I hope Senator Rivera looks in the mirror…Hector LaSalle has opened doors for you to be in the State Senate. Look to your conscience and remember those pioneers who fought for you to be a New York State Senator.

I am appalled by Senator @LuisSepulvedaNY’s remarks during a press conference on the appointment of the Chief Justice of Governors. I did not expect a colleague to call me without trying to contact me directly about our difference of opinion. This is a cynical attempt to attack 1/

— Gustavo Rivera (@NYSenatorRivera) January 14, 2023

Rivera responded on Twitter, saying he was surprised by Seplveda singling him out for his opposition to LaSalle without even a conversation first.

“I did not expect a colleague to call me without trying to contact me directly about our difference of opinion. This is a cynical attempt to attack me personally to build support for this appointment” , Rivera tweeted on Jan. 14. “It’s counterproductive to pit Latino against Latino.

Progressive Bronx U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez chimed in on Twitter, questioning Seplveda and other state Democrats for criticizing those in the Senate who may hold LaSalle’s fate in their own hands.

Hector LaSalle would be the first Latino to head the state’s highest court if confirmed by the state Senate. Photo Courtesy NYS Courts

By confirmation or rejection, LaSalle will go down in history either way. LaSalle would be the first Latino to lead the seven-member Court of Appeals, a historic landmark that was highlighted by former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. at Saturday’s rally.

I would not support him for this important position if I thought our common progress on so many important issues was in jeopardy, Diaz Jr. said. I call on my friends and colleagues in the New York State Senate to give Judge Hector LaSalle a fair opportunity to answer the tough questions and win their vote so that history, in this case for the Latino community, can be written once again. Like all other communities, Latinos want and deserve it.

In some of their ads, Citizens for Judicial Fairness highlighted LaSalle’s candidacy as a step toward diversifying a racially homogeneous bench, citing a statistic that Latinos make up only 10% of the state’s judges.

Individuals nominated and confirmed to serve on the State Court of Appeals serve 14-year terms. Prior to 1974, judges of the Court of Appeals were elected, but after reforms to the New York Constitution, an appointment process was created.

For many, the appointment is a consequence that could shift the philosophical balance of the seven-member council after a four-judge conservative bloc voted in parallel on virtually every case – 96 of 98 cases last session.

Many of those 4-3 decisions restricted the rights of defendants, employees and tenants, attorneys told The Bronx Times. Chief Justice DiFiore abruptly resigned from her post in August and was the subject of a recently closed ethics investigation.

LaSalle wasn’t exactly what progressives had in mind when they urged the governor to pick someone with a diverse background in their legal careers, moving away from a tendency of former prosecutors to bench at the bench. course of the last decade.

LaSalle, who currently presides over the Second Department of the New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn, has had his criminal record taken to task by opponents who suggest his rulings do not support abortion, victims’ rights and labor rights.

Brian Ginsburg, an attorney who has experience arguing before the Court of Appeals, noted that LaSalle, if appointed, would enter new judicial territory of overseeing courts bound by court precedent. appeal to a tribunal that rethinks and reshapes those precedents.

This is the seventh Chief Justice vacancy in the courts’ history since the process was created. If confirmed, this would be Hochuls’ second nomination, she nominated Shirley Troutman to take the bench from retired Associate Justice Eugene Fahey in December 2021.

The next vacancy on the Court of Appeals is expected to be on December 31, 2027, in connection with the expiration of Associate Justice Jenny Riveras’ 14-year term.

Contact Robbie Sequeira at[email protected]or (718) 260-4599. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes.

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