Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday nominated Rowan Wilson to be the next Chief Judge of the state’s Court of Appeals, with the hopes of a smoother confirmation process than for her previous nominee.
Wilson, who has served as an associate judge on the Court of Appeals since 2017, would be the first African-American to lead the state’s highest court and the overall state court system if confirmed by the New York Senate.
“The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals not only leads the State’s highest court, but is also responsible for managing the diverse and complex courts across the State. New Yorkers deserve a strong, effective, and thoughtful leader, and I am proud to nominate Judge Wilson as Chief Judge,” Hochul said in a statement. “Judge Wilson’s sterling record of upholding justice and fairness makes him well-suited to lead the court at this critical time.”
Wilson’s nomination comes two months after the Senate rejected Hochul’s first nominee, Hector LaSalle, in a major political defeat for the governor. LaSalle, who would have been the first Latino to lead the Court of Appeals, was turned down for the job by Senate Democrats, who considered his judicial record too conservative on various issues of import, especially in the face of a far-right national Supreme Court and a conservative majority on the Court of Appeals closer to home.
Wilson, on the other hand, is widely considered a linchpin of the court’s liberal wing, and his nomination is being celebrated in progressive legal circles.
“As an Associate Judge on the Court of Appeals for the last six years, Judge Wilson has distinguished himself as a tireless champion of marginalized people,” said Peter Martin, director of judicial accountability at criminal justice reform nonprofit Center for Community Alternatives. “Judge Wilson’s opinions — which include more than 100 dissents and concurrences in which Judge Wilson wrote separately from the majority opinion — have articulated, defended, and expanded the rights of workers, wrongfully convicted people, workplace injury victims, and victims of gun violence.”
While LaSalle faced critique for his background as a prosecutor and his decisions on the rights of criminal defendants, Wilson has bona fide chops in the defense sphere. After becoming the first Black partner in the history of white shoe firm Cravath, Swaine, & Moore LLP, Wilson served for two decades as board chair at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a nonprofit public defender agency.
Last week, the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers rated Wilson as a “superior” qualified nominee for the position, a distinction he shared only with Corey Stoughton of the Legal Aid Society among the governor’s shortlist. On Monday, Wilson’s nomination was deemed “a big step in the right direction” by law professor and former public defender Steven Zeidman, a frequent commentator on criminal justice in New York.
“Serving as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals would be the honor of my career, and I am humbled by this nomination from Governor Hochul,” Wilson said in a statement. “Protecting the rights of New Yorkers is my top priority, and I look forward to working with Governor Hochul and our partners throughout the judiciary system to manage our courts and deliver justice.”
Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), chair of the Judiciary Committee and a vocal critic of LaSalle’s nomination, deemed Wilson an “accomplished and well-respected jurist.” Wilson must pass muster with the Judiciary Committee if he has any hopes of landing the state’s top judicial position, which not only leads the state’s top court but also oversees the entire, sprawling state court system.
“Associate Judge Rowan Wilson is an accomplished and well-respected jurist on the Court of Appeals, with a long and distinguished record in the private sector,” said Hoylman-Sigal. “The importance of these nominees to New York’s highest court cannot be overstated, especially given recent decisions by federal courts on issues such as abortion, gun safety, labor and the environment.”
The Court of Appeals has been without a permanent Chief Judge since the retirement of Janet DiFiore last summer. Though nominated by a Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, DiFiore and her allies on the bench were widely seen as lurching the court in a right-wing direction. Associate Judge Anthony Cannataro has served as acting Chief Judge since DiFiore’s August resignation.
LaSalle was seen by many progressive activists and Albany Democrats as being in the same vein as DiFiore, which they considered unacceptable to lead the court. After he was voted down by the Judiciary Committee in January, Hochul threatened to sue the Senate to force a vote by the full chamber, arguing the state constitution required that instead of just a committee plebiscite.
But ultimately, it was a Senate Republican, Anthony Palumbo of Long Island, who filed the lawsuit, leading Senate Democrats to hold a floor vote that ended in a party-line defeat for LaSalle, with Democrats voting him down and Republicans voting in favor. A state Supreme Court judge ultimately ruled in favor of Palumbo, setting a precedent that judicial nominees must be voted on by the whole Senate.
Beyond the Judiciary Committee, legislative Democrats appear content with the nomination of Wilson, who often dissented from the DiFiore-led majority’s rulings. “I am particularly excited about the prospect of Judge Wilson leading our state’s highest court as Chief Judge,” said Queens Senator Michael Gianaris, the deputy majority leader. “He is exactly the type of person who can restore the integrity and reputation of the Court of Appeals after the damaging tenure of the previous administration.”
To replace Wilson as an associate judge should he be confirmed, Hochul nominated Caitlin Halligan, a partner at the law firm Selendy Gay Elsberg PLLC and a former state Solicitor General.
Reception to her nomination so far is more mixed: Hoylman-Sigal said that she has an “excellent reputation in legal circles.” Martin of the Center for Community Alternatives, while not dismissing Halligan wholecloth, said she offers “less to celebrate” given her prosecutorial and corporate law background and lack of a judicial record to scrutinize, though the organization praised her past representation of workers, tenants, and civil rights groups.
“Given Halligan’s wide-ranging and in some respects contradictory record, it is vital that the Senate scrutinize her closely in its consideration of her nomination,” said Martin.
Both Wilson and Halligan will go before the Judiciary Committee for a hearing in short order, said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
