Hochul Taps First Latino Judge to Head New York’s Top Court
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday nominated a judge considered a centrist moderate, Hector D. LaSalle, to New York’s highest judicial post, triggering opposition from progressives.
If confirmed by the State Senate to a 14-year term, Justice LaSalle would be the first Latino chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, the governor’s office said. In addition to serving on the court, the chief judge oversees the state’s entire judicial system, with more than 3,000 state and local judges, 15,000 staff members, 300 sites and millions of cases.
Justice LaSalle, who was considered among the more moderate potential nominees, could encounter resistance in Albany, and some liberal lawmakers on Thursday had already vowed to vote against him. Democratic leaders had pressed the governor to nominate a progressive to replace former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore on the seven-member court to counter what they saw as its recent rightward drift.