ALBANY – Governor David A. Paterson has scheduled interviews for today with his top four candidates for the vacant presiding judgeship of the Appellate Division, First Department, sources familiar with the selection process said.
All four are members of the Manhattan-based First Department: Justices Rolando T. Acosta (See Profile), Luis A. Gonzalez (See Profile) and Angela M. Mazzarelli (See Profile), and Acting Presiding Justice Peter Tom (See Profile).
The interviews were scheduled to take place in Albany. One source said the sessions could stretch past today depending on last-minute changes in the schedule of Mr. Paterson, who is attempting to negotiate a new state budget with legislative leaders by April 1 for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
The governor is not expected to interview any other candidates to fill the opening he created when he selected former Presiding Justice Jonathan Lippman as chief judge to succeed the retired Judith S. Kaye (NYLJ, Jan. 14).
While Mr. Paterson said he was deeply impressed by Justice Lippman’s credentials, the governor also complained about the nomination process that forced him to choose from a list of candidates from the Commission on Judicial Nomination that included seven men, six of them white (NYLJ, Dec. 4, 2008). Mr. Paterson said the list did not reflect the racial or gender diversity of the state.
Rolando T. Acosta, 53
A former Legal Aid Society attorney, Justice Acosta was elected to Manhattan Supreme Court in 2002 and was among the first two selections of then-Governor Eliot Spitzer to the Appellate Division in 2007. He is a Columbia Law graduate.
Luis A. Gonzalez, 63
Elected to the Bronx Supreme Court in 1992, he was administrative judge in the 12th Judicial District from 1999 to 2002. He was appointed to the Appellate Division in 2002 by Governor George E. Pataki. Justice Gonzalez is a Columbia Law graduate.
Peter Tom, 62
The current acting presiding justice was elected to Manhattan Supreme Court in 1990. Justice Tom became the first – and is still the only – Asian-American on the Appellate Division with his appointment in 1994 by Governor Mario M. Cuomo. Justice Tom is a Brooklyn Law School graduate who once won a New York City Golden Gloves boxing championship.
Angela M. Mazzarelli, 62
A Columbia Law School graduate and former Bronx Legal Services attorney, she was elected to Manhattan Supreme Court in 1992 after four years as an acting Supreme Court justice. Justice Mazzarelli was appointed to the Appellate Division in 1994 by Mr. Cuomo.
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