Saturday, July 22, 2006
The list of candidates for the Court of Appeals seat presently occupied by George Bundy Smith includes Judge Smith himself, who could only occupy it for another year before mandatory retirement; the Hon Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department; A. Gail Prudenti, the presiding justice of the Appellate Division's Second Department (said to be a great pal of Al D'Amato); Justice Thomas Mercure from the Third Department in Albany; the Hon. James Catterson and the Hon. Richard Andrias, from the First Department; and Justice Steven Fisher from the Second Department.
Everyone on the list except Smith is a Republican. Political realities really mean that Judge Smith will be entering private practice shortly, and after that it is hard to say how it shakes out. Buncha white guys, and a woman. Only two upstate candidates-- and right now Western New York is not represented on the Court.
Our preference here at Outside Counsel has never been any sort of secret, but I feel I have to point out that any process that can produce this sort of quality is working pretty well. It is peculiar, in a way, that the only Democrat is the incumbent, but I have a hunch that there were probably not a lot of Democrats who threw their names into the hat. It would be interesting to know. I suspect that Elliott Spitzer will be more in the Mario Cuomo tradition of judicial appointments, and at least receptive to qualified Republicans, but for most of the people on this list this opening is probably their best shot for a while.
Everyone on the list except Smith is a Republican. Political realities really mean that Judge Smith will be entering private practice shortly, and after that it is hard to say how it shakes out. Buncha white guys, and a woman. Only two upstate candidates-- and right now Western New York is not represented on the Court.
Our preference here at Outside Counsel has never been any sort of secret, but I feel I have to point out that any process that can produce this sort of quality is working pretty well. It is peculiar, in a way, that the only Democrat is the incumbent, but I have a hunch that there were probably not a lot of Democrats who threw their names into the hat. It would be interesting to know. I suspect that Elliott Spitzer will be more in the Mario Cuomo tradition of judicial appointments, and at least receptive to qualified Republicans, but for most of the people on this list this opening is probably their best shot for a while.
// posted by Bill @ 10:31 AM 
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