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ALBANY - Three current appellate judges, two private practioners, a law school professor and the director of a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrants and low-income New Yorkers have been named to the list of candidates from which Governor Andrew Cuomo will name a successor to Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Included in the list sent to the governor on Dec. 1 by the Commission on Judicial Nomination were:
• Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 60 of Manhattan, associate justice of the Appellate Division, First Department;
• Rolando Acosta, 57, of Manhattan associate justice of the Appellate Division, First Department;
• Eugene M. Fahey, 61, of Buffalo, associate justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department;
• Kathy Chin, an attorney with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft;
• Jenny Rivera, 48, of Suffolk County, a professor at the City University of New York School of Law;
• Margarita Rosa, of Brooklyn, executive director of the Grand Street Settlement; and
• David A. Schulz, 60, of Manhattan, an attorney with Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz.
Schulz is the only candidate who has appeared on a previous list of Court of Appeals selections from the commission. He was among the seven named by the commission in 2007, when then-chief judge Judith Kaye's term expired and her seat became open.
Kaye herself was reappointed to the court by Governor David Paterson, though she was forced to step down at the end of 2008 because of the state’s mandatory retirement rules.
Kaye, who is now chairwoman of the judicial nomination commission, noted in a statement that it was the first time she has seen the nominating process "from the other side of the table."
"I am so gratified at the level of public interest that this vacancy attracted, the number of applications we received, and the extraordinary quality and diverse backgrounds of our applicants," said Kaye, who is now of counsel with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Manhattan. "That so many wonderfully qualified candidates were motivated to apply demonstrates the remarkable strength and depth of the legal profession in the state of New York."
Read the Commission's press release , a letter from Judith Kaye, and biographies of the nominees.
The commission said that it had received 75 applications, which is significantly higher than the number for other recent vacancies.
Of the applicants, 35 (47 percent) were women and 24 (32 percent) were members of ethnic minority groups.
The commission interviewed 36 candidates, of whom 17 were women (47 percent) and 18 were minorities (50 percent).
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Joepublicva
To Mr. Steven Finell. Maybe u dont kno what ur talkin about. Can u explain the basis of logic that exonerates a judge from criminal prosecution of taking bribes because he was in his chambers wearing a robe as opposed to meeting in a restaurant and taking that same bribe? Too many questionable acts by judges have been overlooked during her reign. What does she bring to the (other side of the) table that she couldnt or wouldnt as chief judge?
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Steven Finell
PS @ellen_oxman: There is no "Manhattan Supreme Court." You probably mean the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, which sits in Manhattan. It is a trial court. Chief Judge Kaye was never a judge of that court or of any trial court. As I said, you don't know what you are talking about.
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Steven Finell
@ellen_oxman: You do not know what you are talking about. Many judges return to private practice when they resign from the Bench. That is not a sign of corruption. Any law firm would welcome a former Judge of the Court of Appeals, especially a Chief Judge, and more especially a Chief Judge with Judge Kaye's outstanding record of accomplishment. If you have any evidence or basis to support your accusation that Chief Judge Kaye "threw cases" (whatever that means)--and I seriously doubt that you do--tell us what it is. And, while you are at it, present it to an appropriate disciplinary body. Otherwise, we will know that you are simply a coward who enjoys slinging mud at widely respected public figures.
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Finell
Formatting error: Jenny Rivera is (unintentionally) in Kathy Chin's paragraph. She deserves a paragraph of her own, with her name in boldface type, like everyone else.
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ellen_oxman@yahoo.com
The fact that Judge Kaye is at Skadden....says it all. She is cashing in on all of the years she threw cases. NOWHERE is more corrupt than Manhattan Supreme Court. Nowhere.
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