Gov. Hochul receives new shortlist of N.Y. state chief judge candidates after first pick rejected

Hochul must weigh the panel’s recommendations after the Democratic-led state Senate shot down her initial nominee, Justice Hector LaSalle, in an unprecedented rejection that followed weeks of conflict over his background, questions about constitutional duty and a Republican lawsuit over the process.

LaSalle’s nomination drew opposition from progressive lawmakers as well as labor unions and other groups who viewed him as too conservative to lead the state’s sprawling court system.

Among the new recommendations from the commission are Justice Anthony Cannataro, the acting chief judge of the Court of Appeals, and two other judges currently serving on the state’s highest bench: Justice Shirley Troutman and Justice Rowan Wilson.

Two appellate court judges made the list: Hon. Elizabeth Garry, the presiding justice of the 3rd Appellate Division and Hon. Gerald Whalen, the presiding justice of the 4th Appellate Division.

Additionally, Caitlin Halligan, a lawyer and former general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney’s office who also served as solicitor general for the state from 2001 until 2007, and Corey Stoughton, an attorney with The Legal Aid Society, both made the list.

“I am gratified at the extraordinary quality and diverse backgrounds of the applicants received by the Commission,” E. Leo Milonas, chair of the commission, said in a statement. “That so many exceptional candidates were motivated to apply demonstrates the remarkable strength and depth of the legal profession in the State of New York.”

LaSalle, presiding justice of the 2nd Appellate Division in Brooklyn, was initially nominated by Hochul in December following the resignation of former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore last summer.

Initially, Senate Democrats refused to grant his nomination a full floor vote and rejected LaSalle 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 last month in a 39-20 vote on the Senate floor.

Opponents argued the former prosecutor’s judicial records showed him to be anti-union, anti-reproductive rights and overall too conservative to lead the state court system.

Prior to the previous shortlist being released last year, several lawmakers, including state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, D-Manhattan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, called on the commission to include candidates with diverse backgrounds, such as civil rights attorneys, public defenders and tenant advocates, when compiling recommendations over the summer.

The calls came in the wake of a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court overturning abortion protections and criticism that New York’s highest court was being pushed to the right by a quartet of conservative-leaning judges led by DiFiore.

In the wake of LaSalle’s formal rejection, Hochul said she would use the same criteria she applied when picking a new nominee.

“I will always do what I did before and do in the future, and that is select the person I think is the best individual and the best person to lead an extraordinary court,” she said last month.