Several special interests and political viewpoints have emerged on the subject of the talents and prerequisites regarding the choice for the next Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. I thought my two cents might contribute an additional perspective concerning that subject, but with respect to the twin title and duty as Chief Judge of the State of New York.

Most of the recent commentary is pitched to ideological, philosophical and even political pigeonholing that some characterize as tilting and affecting the adjudicative work of the Court. It would be far better if the concentration were placed on a different word and concept—jurisprudence, a legal term that implies respect for the dispassionate, and un-predisposed integrity of the Court’s adjudicative work. The difference is more than nuance or mere nomenclature because the more elegant neutral term gives primacy to institutional principles, as more foundationally important than any one individual imposing or nudging others on the basis of personally predisposed philosophical points of view.