(C) Common Dreams
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A New Round in the Contentious Fight Over N.Y.’s Next Top Judge [1]
['Luis Ferré-Sadurní']
Date: 2023-02-09
Mr. Palumbo, who is the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee and voted in favor of Justice LaSalle, said that the judge “is entitled to an up-or-down vote by the full State Senate, not as a courtesy, but because the Constitution requires it.”
A spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, who is not a plaintiff in the complaint, declined to comment on the litigation or say whether the governor would join the lawsuit. Mr. Palumbo said in an interview that he had not discussed the nomination or the lawsuit with the governor.
Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Ms. Stewart-Cousins, accused Senate Republicans, who are in the minority, of having “no basic understanding of law or the Constitution.”
Justice LaSalle’s rejection was unprecedented: The 10-to-9 committee vote that blocked his nomination on Jan. 18 marked the first time that a governor’s choice for chief judge of the Court of Appeals, who is responsible for overseeing the state’s vast court system, has been voted down.
Even though Ms. Hochul is not part of the complaint, the legal battle could deepen the rift in an already bitter confrontation between Ms. Hochul and more progressive Democrats in the State Senate who have vehemently opposed Justice LaSalle over concerns that he is too conservative. It comes just one week after Ms. Hochul unveiled her $227 billion state budget proposal, which she must negotiate with Democrats who control the State Legislature over the coming months.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/nyregion/judge-lasalle-lawsuit.html
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