Paterson “disturbed” by list of potential judges
Gov. David Paterson said today he is “disturbed’’ by the list of candidates sent to him by a screening panel to succeed Judith Kaye as the state’s chief judge when she steps down at the end of the year.
He didn’t answer when asked what disturbed him about the list, but an aide said later the problem is that no women and only one non-white candidate is among the group he has to pick a successor from.
State law calls for Paterson to pick one of the names submitted to him by a screening panel. This one is headed by John O’Mara of Elmira, a former Pataki administration official and prominent lobbyist.
The aide said that Paterson noticed particularly that Carmen Ciparick, a Hispanic woman now sitting on the Court of Appeals, was not on the list.
It was not immediately apparent if Paterson could request a revised list from the group.
The seven on it are Court of Appeals judges Theodore Jones and Eugene Piggott; Jonathan Lippmann, former state chief administrative judge and now an Appellate Division justice; Evan Davis, former counsel to Gov. Mario Cuomo; Steven Fisher, another Appellate Division justice; and two non-judges, Peter Zimroth, head of the state Capital Defenders’ Office, and George Carpinello of Albany.
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the question is who is on the screenng committee..not
who is on the judicial selection list..if that committee
is a combination of screeners over more than one gubenatorial term than patterson should not complain
if the committee is all pataki appointees than the
public should complain
The New York State Commission on Judicial Nominations is comprised of twelve individuals:
Four appointed by the Governor
Four appointed by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals
One appointed by the Senate Majority Leader
One appointed by the Senate Minority Leader
One appointed by the Assembly Speaker
One appointed by the Assembly Minority Leader
According to the N.Y. Judiciary Law, of the four members appointed by the governor, no more than two shall be enrolled in the same political party, two shall be members of the bar of the state, and two shall not be members of the bar of the state. Of the four members appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals, no more than two shall be enrolled in the same political party, two shall be members of the bar of the state, and two shall not be members of the bar of the state.
The process is hardly controlled by one individual or one line of thinking.
Well, there you have it. It’s the law and this panel screened candidates and handed over the list of QUALIFIED candidates to Paterson. Unfortunately the Governor doesn’t care about judicial qualifications and he would rather play politics. Because there were few minorities on the list is an unfortunate coincidence but there are still some very highly qualified candidates for Paterson to pick from. By saying that he was “disturbed” by the list is an insult to the process and every one of those individual’s on the list. He should apologize immediately.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. (8/28/1963)
Shades of Spitzer trying to jerry-rigg the successor to Hevesi. That screening committee – and this screening committee – should give the widest range of possible qualified candidates. Does anyone think Ciparick is NOT qualified? Baloney.
Well now that we know the composition of the screening
committee is about as impartial and non political as you
can get…the governors’ feeling about whether or not
there are sufficient numbers of any ethnic or gender
group are irrelevant..the court of appeal is the highest
court in the state..I have had the honor to argue one case
there over my career…the appointment of a chief judge
is something that must be done with no political considerations involved..the best qualified judicial mind
regardless of party, sex or color should be the test
surely the governor can pick from the list supplied
to him
Of course, Ciparik is at least as qualified as Judge Jones, who only just arrived on the court. Plus she satisfies the gender and ethnic balance that the position demands.
But where was Gov. Paterson in the months leading up to this list’s creation? Couldn’t he have spoken out—even once—to make his preference known before the panel spoke? That’s not undue influence, it’s leadership!
Looks like the Three Amigos of the Senate may have a point after all—no one is going to stand up for Hispanics, women or any disnefranchised minority until we all demand it!
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