Democrats Block Chief Justice Cathy Hochul’s Choice of Hector LaSalle in Historic New York Vote

ALBANY — In just 18 days, Kathy Hochul went from being sworn in as the first woman elected governor of New York to entering the wrong story.

Political disaster came on Wednesday when she became the first governor in state history to be defeated by the state senate after its newly completed judiciary committee rejected Hector LaSalle’s candidacy for chief of New York’s high court.

“It’s a very big deal,” three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki told The Post. “The question is who runs the state in our country – the governor or the radical left in the legislature.”

An embattled Hochul said the state constitution requires the full Senate to consider the controversial nominee despite opposition from progressive lawmakers, labor unions and criminal justice reformers.

Senate Democrats say the 10-9 committee vote is the end of the road for LaSalle and Hochul’s bid to make him the first Hispanic to lead New York’s judiciary, setting the stage for a fight in the courts.

“The committee has spoken. The nomination has been lost. I hope we can move forward,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(D-Yonkers), who approved the committee’s expansion with three more Democrats and one Republican, told reporters.

Now a hamstring-cut Hochul who had to rely on Republicans to try to get LaSalle through the committee, has criticized fellow Democrats for holding what she says is an unfair forum in which “the outcome was predetermined” amid fierce opposition from unions and reformers. criminal justice.

Hole’s only recourse now seems to be to sue the State Senate to try to get a full house vote on LaSalle. The Buffalo News reported on Wednesday that she has hired a lawyer to weigh in on the move.

“Several senators have stated how they are going to vote before the hearings even begin, including those who recently won seats on the newly expanded Judiciary Committee. While the Committee has a role to play, we believe the Constitution requires action by the entire Senate,” Hochul said.

Former Democratic governor David Paterson said the fight for LaSalle is “bigger than Hochul” because allowing the Senate to dismiss a judge without a floor vote would impact future governors.

He backed the idea of ​​challenging Senate Democrats in court, saying “she has a court case,” though he added that the committee’s rejection was “poor” for Hochul politically.

“It’s worse if she leaves it alone and moves on. The LaSalle nomination is bigger than Kathy Hochul,” he added.

LaSalle received the support of all six Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, as well as Democratic Senators Luis Sepúlveda, Kevin Thomas and Jamaal Bailey.

“The nomination is lost,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Brad Hoylman-Segal (D-Manhattan), who voted against LaSalle, said after the vote.

But it remains theoretically possible that LaSalle could be confirmed by a bipartisan 63-seat Senate majority if enough Democrats join the 21-member Republican minority that voted in his favor if his candidacy does somehow make it into the House.

The hearing marked the first time that LaSalle publicly defended his record after weeks of attacks from progressives who want the left-wing lawyer to steer the relatively moderate Court of Appeal in a new direction.

“Judges’ decision-making is based on facts and law, and how you personally feel about a party or issue before us is irrelevant,” the longtime lawyer told members of the State Senate Judiciary Committee.

Hoylman-Segal was fact-checked early on by LaSalle, who cited two instances of him siding with criminal defendants on civil rights issues after the Manhattan Democrat said analysis of 33 past decisions proved he was too friendly on towards prosecutors.

“Your statement is wrong only in this,” LaSalle said.

Hoylman-Segal also hit LaSalle over an alleged “alliance” with former Chief Justice Janet DiFiore, who resigned last summer over scandal, a past donation to the state’s Conservative Party, and past campaigns for a Supreme Court justice where LaSalle ran for line of the Conservative Party. .

“Do you know about the program of the Conservative Party? It includes, let’s just recall, that it opposes a woman’s right to control her own body, opposes the equal rights of LGBT New Yorkers, opposes any attempt to implement reasonable measures to prevent gun violence. Do you consider these core values? boomed Hoylman-Segal.

LaSalle noted that he also ran for candidates from the Democratic, Republican, Independence and Working Families parties, a common practice in judicial elections across the state.

LaSalle also took a stand that he would maintain during several hours of interrogation.

“Judges make decisions according to the law,” he said.

He also responded to a question by State Senator Jessica Ramos (D-Queen), who had already said she would vote against his candidacy, in a case in which he ruled against the idea that safety rules apply to children of workers when they may be exposed to toxic materials that parents have come across at work.

“I read laws as they are written,” LaSalle said, before adding that the Legislature could pass bills that could change how judges rule on such matters in the future.

However, some progressives continued to pressure him over past decisions in which LaSalle said he adhered to the letter of the law along with precedent.

This included a controversial case where LaSalle joined other appellate judges in ruling that a prosecutor who removed jurors because of their darker skin color did not technically break the law.

“We relied on [precedent]”, he said in response to a question from State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who ultimately voted no.

LaSalle added that he welcomed how the Court of Appeal ended up overturning that decision to set a new precedent.

“No one should be excluded from the jury because of immutable characteristics. And I applaud [the Court of Appeals decision] this was the first time that any court in this country has indicated that skin color is a group that needs to be protected,” he said.

Some political observers, including former governors. George Pataky and David Paterson have said that a loss to LaSalle would deal Hochul a devastating blow just weeks into her four-year term in office.

The rejection by the Judiciary Committee is another sign that the political left has the upper hand on Khokul, as more battles brew over the state budget and changes to controversial bail limits.

“This fight was mostly about power, and by failing this appointment, Hochul showed that she does not have it,” Melissa DeRosa, political consultant and former secretary to the governor under the disgraced ex-governor. Andrew Cuomo told The Post.

“The legislature wanted a weak governor, and they got him,” DeRosa added.