New Rules for Judge Selection

By Karen DeWitt

Albany, New York – The state's Commission on Judicial Nominations, heavily criticized by Governor David Paterson for lacking diversity in its selection of potential judges, has issued new rules to address the issue.

When the long time Chief Judge of the State, Judith Kaye, was forced into mandatory retirement at the age of 70, Governor David Paterson was dismayed to find that the state commission that recommends new judges did not chose a single woman in it's list for consideration.

"I don't accept that there wasn't a woman in this state that wasn't qualified to serve on the Court of Appeals," Paterson said at the time.

The Commission on Judicial Nominations was at first defensive against the criticisms, but later, when Paterson appointed former Judge Kaye to revamp the commission's rules, their attitude changed. This week, the commission came out with new rules that for the first time explicitly list diversity as a consideration when assembling a list of judges to recommend to the governor, and when choosing members of the commission.

Steve Younger, who began his job as counsel to the Commission shortly after Kaye was appointed to her task in May, says a commitment to diversity will now be an "integral" part of the rules, and considerations will include gender race and geography.

"We're a big state, so we need every aspect of our state to be considered when we pick judges," said Younger.

The new rules for the commission on judicial nomination also call for more openness. Commission members can no longer individually phone in their votes for candidate selection, and must give ample public notice of their meetings, as well as post pertinent information on the web. Hearings will be held to get public input on candidate choices.

The commission will in the future, also write a more detailed report for the governor, explaining how they came to their conclusions about the judges they chose.

Despite his complaints, Governor Paterson did in the end enthusiastically choose former Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman to replace Judge Kaye, saying at an announcement in January that he was "delighted" to make the appointment.

If the Commission on Judicial Nominations follows it's new rules, then the governor should have a wider array of choices the next time he picks a new judge.