With his first judicial appointment, Governor Eliot L. Spitzer has revealed a hands-on, diversity-conscious approach that may be an indication of what the legal community can expect as the new executive makes his imprint on the judiciary.
Spitzer on Sunday nominated Brooklyn Civil Term Administrative Justice Theodore T. Jones Jr. for the Court of Appeals, marking the first time the new governor has selected a judge. The governor’s initial appointment would restore a measure of diversity to the Court of Appeals, which has lacked black representation since September, when former Gov. George E. Pataki declined to reappoint 14-year-incumbent George Bundy Smith.
