Lawsuit pushing NY Senate vote on Hector LaSalle will win, says ex-Gov. Paterson
A lawsuit aiming to force a full state Senate vote on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pick for the state’s top judge will be successful, ex-Gov. David Paterson predicted Sunday.
Hochul nominated Hector LaSalle to lead the Court of Appeals in December, but the Democrat’s centrist selection was blocked by the state Senate Judiciary committee last month, amounting to a historical rebuke of the executive branch by fellow Dems. Senate leaders say LaSalle’s nomination is now dead in the water.
But the slap-down prompted state Sen. Anthony Palumbo, a Long Island Republican who is a minority member of the committee, to sue his fellow lawmakers last week, alleging they do not have the authority to prevent a full Senate vote on LaSalle’s confirmation.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Democratic members of the committee were named in the suit after they rejected LaSalle, who was opposed by organized labor and progressive activists.
Paterson, a 68-year-old Democrat who like Hochul was elevated to the Governor’s Mansion when his predecessor resigned in disgrace, said Sunday that Palumbo would win his lawsuit and predicted the full state Senate would be forced to vote on LaSalle in what will be a litmus test of both Hochul and Stewart-Cousins’ influence.
“On two occasions, they demonstrated that they didn’t want to follow the process. And it’s not a political process. It’s a constitutional one,” Paterson told “Cats Roundtable” host John Catsimatidis on WABC radio, referring to Dem leaders.
“After Judge LaSalle lost in the committee vote, they closed down his nomination. In other words, they refused to bring him to the floor of the Senate. This makes little sense because the state constitution mirrors the federal constitution,” he said, comparing the case to the unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination of Judge Robert Bork.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), sent Bork’s nomination to the full Senate for a vote in 1987, even while adding its recommendation that he be rejected. Bork was eventually rejected by the full US Senate.
“In this case, the Democrats unfortunately cannot cite any reason why LaSalle’s nomination didn’t go to the full Senate, especially because since the language mirrors that of the United States Constitution,” Paterson insisted.
“The breath of the Court of Appeals and the high honor to serve on it, I thought, got sullied through this process,” he continued, suggesting that Hochul was pleased Palumbo filed the suit so she wouldn’t have to take action against members of her own party.
Lawmakers on the committee had originally told Hochul they would not vote for LaSalle if she nominated him, which is where “the process originally went wrong” because they did not have the power to preemptively block the judge’s nomination under the constitution, Paterson said.
“They were basically saying [to Hochul], ‘Our judgment supersedes yours,’ ” Paterson said.
“This suit is proper, and he will win,” he predicted of Palumbo.
If LaSalle’s nomination were to be sent to the full Senate for a vote, he would still face an uphill battle, as many Democrats have publicly opposed him, highlighting previous court decisions that they say show he is opposed to unions and abortions.
Hochul’s selection of LaSalle revealed her move toward centrist politics after she fended off a surprisingly close GOP challenge in November.
Hochul weighed in on the lawsuit Sunday morning at the Lunar New Year’s parade in Chinatown.
“I’ve said all along that it’s very important for this judge’s nomination to go to the floor of the Senate. And obviously the senator on his own decided that the best way that can happen is to have it be in the court,” she told The Post of Palumbo.
“So we’re going to wait now and see what the courts decide. There’s going to be an expedited hearing so to be determined on Friday, so we’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, I’m working very hard with the legislature to get to a budget that meets the needs of New Yorkers.”
If approved, LaSalle would be the first Latino to ever serve as chief judge of the Court of Appeals. He currently serves as a presiding Brooklyn appellate judge of the New York State Supreme Court.
Former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, an Andrew Cuomo appointee, resigned last summer during an ethics probe.
