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WTF, GOV. HOCHUL??????,

Trying to make sense of a crazy world, with limited success mostly
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Tiredretiredlawyer
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WTF, GOV. HOCHUL??????,

#1

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1 ... hest-Court
Democratic Opposition Builds after Conservative Nominated to NY's Highest Court

Last week, I wrote about New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s shocking betrayal of her constituents in nominating a conservative ex-prosecutor — Hector LaSalle — to be the chief judge of the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. LaSalle, now the presiding judge of one of the state’s intermediate appellate courts, has a history of joining rulings hostile to labor, abortion rights, and criminal defendants. If confirmed by the state senate, LaSalle would entrench a conservative majority at the Court of Appeals through 2030.

Within hours of Hochul’s announcement, several Democratic state senators announced their opposition to LaSalle’s appointment. Over the next few days several more senators joined the growing chorus. So too several prominent unions in the state, including some that could hardly be described as having progressive politics.

Despite the outcry, Hochul stood by her choice, accusing LaSalle’s opponents of “cherry-picking” a couple of cases. This was profoundly unpersuasive. After all, the anti-labor pro-crisis-pregnancy-center and pro-prosecution decisions cited by LaSalle’s opponents were decisions he joined, and Hochul failed to provide any evidence that these regressive decisions were somehow anomalous or inconsistent with his overall judicial philosophy. Hochul also suggested that senators might be convinced to support him after his hearing, but this again reflects a lack of seriousness. As anybody who has paid attention to Supreme Court confirmation hearings recently can attest, a judge’s prior judicial record is far more predictive of their likely jurisprudence than nonbinding and meaningless pablum provided in a senate hearing.

Today, Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris became the 11th Democratic senator to announce that he will vote no on LaSalle’s nomination (a 12th Democratic senator joined the opposition shortly thereafter). This was an important milestone. Because Democrats hold a 42-21 majority in the NY Senate, 11 Democratic no votes means that the nomination cannot succeed without GOP support. And in recent years, Democratic leadership in the senate has been reticent to allow floor votes on measures that do not have enough Democratic support to pass without relying on GOP votes. Indeed, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee (who is publicly undecided on the nomination, but his public statements reveal he is extremely skeptical of LaSalle) announced today that he opposed a floor vote if GOP votes were required to confirm LaSalle. Given this, Governor Hochul’s efforts to install a right-wing majority on New York’s highest court now appear dead in the state senate, particularly given reporting that there are up to 10 additional Democratic senators who are against LaSalle’s nomination, but have not made their position public.

Despite this state of affairs, Hochul insisted today that senate Democrats move forward with LaSalle’s confirmation. In doing so, she implied that she expects to receive, and perhaps will lobby for GOP support in moving forward the nomination. :snippity:

So where does that leave us? Until and unless Hochul withdraws LaSalle’s nomination, the state senate is required to confirm or reject his nomination within 30 days, which means the senate must act by mid-to-late January. Until then, it is vitally important that constituents make clear to their elected officials that LaSalle is an unacceptable choice for Chief Judge. Every state senator who announces their opposition to entrenching a conservative Court of Appeals majority through 2030 puts more pressure on Hochul to withdraw this catastrophic nomination. So, if you live in New York, please contact your state senator and ask that they announce their opposition to LaSalle and demand that Hochul withdraw the nomination (and if they have already announced their opposition, thank them). And make sure your New York friends, colleagues, and family are aware of this issue.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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#2

Post by AndyinPA »

I haven't paid much attention to New York State politics, but something weird has been going on there for a while.
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WTF, GOV. HOCHUL??????,

#3

Post by Suranis »

I am far more interested in why she is doing this than the Judge himself.
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Post by Frater I*I »

Suranis wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:22 pm I am far more interested in why she is doing this than the Judge himself.
I think she has designs to take a shot at the big girl chair in the Oval office....
"He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see, He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"

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Post by AndyinPA »

Frater I*I wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:34 pm
Suranis wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:22 pm I am far more interested in why she is doing this than the Judge himself.
I think she has designs to take a shot at the big girl chair in the Oval office....
I don't see how this will endear her to the Democrats. Looking for republican votes?
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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#6

Post by Frater I*I »

AndyinPA wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:41 pm :snippity:

I don't see how this will endear her to the Democrats. Looking for republican votes?
Who else are the Dems gonna vote for if she gets the nom? Stay at home and risk a QOPer get into the Oval and further push us to a despot theocracy? Here she's showing "bipartisanship" hoping to woo some of the few remaining zombie Eisenhower GOPer to her side.

But that's just my opinion....who knows what going through her mind with this nomination... :shrug:
"He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see, He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"

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#7

Post by raison de arizona »

Yancey Roy @YanceyRoy wrote: It marks the first time a governor's nominee to the Court of Appeals has been defeated since NY switched from electing to appointing COA judges in the mid 1970s.

Vote was 10-9 against advancing the nomination to the full Senate. (Some senators voted "yes without recommendation" but this is still a yes. Because even if 10 senators voted that way, the nomination would advance.)
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#8

Post by raison de arizona »

Hochul response:
Image
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#9

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/ ... cs/382061/
Opinion: LaSalle’s rejection was a defeat for Albany backroom politics
State Senate Democrats showed a new way to lead that puts people before power.


The controversy over the nomination of Hector LaSalle to serve as chief judge of New York’s highest court – and his recent rejection by the state Senate Judiciary Committee – has led to predictable punditry casting this dispute as another battle between left and center, between progressives and moderates. But as is typical when an establishment power structure fails to see the ground shifting beneath its feet, the conventional wisdom is wrong. The sides here do not fit into neat ideological boxes so much as they reflect the conflict between outsiders and insiders, between reformers and the establishment.

LaSalle’s nomination was an establishment selection backed by the powerful judicial fraternity and the machinery of both political parties. They saw in this selection an assurance that the status quo they have constructed and enjoyed would remain in place, and that the paradigm that has already failed too many New Yorkers would not change.

Some of the arguments in defense of this nomination bordered on absurd. We were told not to judge a judge based on his actual work product, which displays an affinity for those in more powerful positions, or on which political parties he has chosen to align with and financially support. We were told not to value the opinions of those with real concerns who fight on the front lines on behalf of organized labor, reproductive rights and civil liberties. The gaslighting by LaSalle’s supporters demonized those who ​simply wanted to scrutinize this nomination, instead advocating deference to a historical dereliction of duty that gave governors unfettered discretion to appoint anyone with virtually no imposition of checks and balances.

But this state Senate is committed to repairing the mistakes of the past, not using them as a guidebook. The Senate Democratic conference rose to prominence (and a historic supermajority) as an antidote to old-style, backroom Albany politics, and our efforts to reshape the system were – and are – vigorously opposed by Republicans and establishment Democrats alike, including so-called leaders of our own party. Under the transformative direction of state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, we vowed to govern from our values and remain accountable to the people – not the consultant class. We got back to basics and reconnected with the Democratic Party’s original mandate: to fight for average New Yorkers, heed the solutions they believe are needed to improve their lives and give them a fighting chance for success.


As a result, we’ve honed in on issues that empower people intentionally left out of government decision-making by those already in charge. We enacted sweeping voting reforms to expand access to our democracy like early voting, automatic voter registration and, most recently, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Our state Senate endeavors to give outsiders the same seat at the table already enjoyed by those who have been in these halls for decades. And that’s how we’ve conducted ourselves as a conference. Our senators put forth effective, data-backed legislation that targets the underbelly of a problem to cut it out for good. In the few short years we have held power, and we have sought to change the system itself. We advanced some of the strongest climate legislation in the nation with our Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and successfully passed the Environmental Bond Act ballot proposal to help implement it. We raised taxes on the wealthy and reinvested in our future by funding public education and child care. And, most recently, we stood strong on reproductive rights, establishing New York as a destination state in the wake of the dreadful Dobbs decision.

That’s why it’s striking that in the 2022 election postmortem, while analysts picked apart the failures of New York’s Democratic Party, few mentioned the clear winners: New York’s state Legislature. While those running on the dogged politics of appeasement did poorly at the ballot box, both our senators and our Assembly colleagues advanced a bold vision for change and secured unprecedented back-to-back supermajorities while other candidates faltered. Our winning strategy hinged on the very disruptive reforms that the party establishment faults. Clinging to old tactics may have put them in power decades ago, but it will ultimately lead down a path of failure.

The Senate’s rejection of LaSalle’s nomination is not our first break with the old way of doing business, and it won’t be our last. We are forging ahead with a new style of governance that our state has never seen before. We will continue to champion the best interests of those outside the political apparatus, remain tethered to the practical implications of our work and always legislate on behalf of people before power. As evidenced last week, those who fail to adapt to these changing realities will continue to be out of step with the people of our state and will eventually fade into history.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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