ALBANY - The end of Judge George Bundy Smith's 14-year term on the state's highest court gives Gov. George Pataki the chance to give the court a conservative majority for at least seven years after he leaves office.
Few think Pataki will extend Smith's stay after September. Smith is an appointee of Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo - the man Pataki replaced - and helped strike down the death penalty law that was meant to be a cornerstone of Pataki's legacy.
“It would certainly be out of character for Pataki to reappoint Smith,” said Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School. “Pataki has, in each previous case, had political ties to his appointees. He's certainly avoided anyone who smelled like a liberal Democrat.”
But many in the legal community, Republican and Democrat, are asking Pataki to consider reappointing Smith, 69, the only black judge on the court.
The high court's makeup is more important than many New Yorkers might think. Major decisions in recent years have allowed Indian casinos to flourish, slapped the state with a multibillion-dollar bill to improve New York City schools, restricted police searches and asserted the governor's power over the Legislature in making state budgets.
A spokesman for the governor said Pataki will, by law, review all seven of the names recommended Thursday by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. Smith's name is included.
If reappointed, Smith only would be able to serve until the end of 2007, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. If Pataki reappoints him, he essentially gives the next governor the chance to fill the seat.
Smith said he wants to stay.
“This is a magnificent court,” Smith said. “There is a lot of give-and-take in the debates. There are a lot of important issues that come before the court, and I would certainly like to extend my stay on the court until I'm forced to retire by age.”
Pataki has appointed only conservative Republicans. His record contrasts with that of Cuomo, who appointed conservatives and liberals alike. Pataki's appointees:
-Victoria Graffeo, a counsel to the state Assembly's Republican minority from 1984-1994 and Pataki's former solicitor general.
-Richard Wesley, a former state Assembly colleague of Pataki. (He has since left for a position on the federal bench.)
-Albert Rosenblatt, former Republican district attorney from Dutchess County.
-Susan Philips Read, deputy counsel to the governor from 1995-97.
-Robert Smith, a major political contributor.
Pataki has been criticized by Democrats for making several appointments that will last long into the next governor's tenure, including one whose new term would have begun after Pataki left office. He pulled that reappointment off the table.
Smith, a Washington, D.C., native, came to New York in the early 1960s after attending Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for the NAACP during the civil rights movement. He became a civil court judge in New York City in 1975 and a state Supreme Court justice in 1979, moved up to the appellate division in 1987 and was named to the Court of Appeals in 1992.
Legal experts say Smith is hard to pigeonhole. Sometimes he sides with more conservative judges, as he did in this month's decision ruling gay marriage illegal in New York. He voted with the more liberal judges in several rulings, including one that limited the police's ability to carry out searches.
“He's an independent thinker,” said former Court of Appeals Judge Richard Simons, a Utica Republican. “I didn't always agree with him, but I always respected his judgment and the reasoning he used to support it. ... I think a judge with 14 years of experience has something to contribute to the court.”
Pataki's appointee must be confirmed by the state Senate.
“The only thing I can hope is that all of those bodies and persons take a look at the whole record,” Smith said. “You could pick out five or six decisions and say he's very liberal or pick another five or six decisions and say he's conservative. I just try to look at the cases, look at the facts, study the case and listen to the arguments.”
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On the Net:
Court of Appeals: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/
AP-ES-07-23-06 0954EDT
“It would certainly be out of character for Pataki to reappoint Smith,” said Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School. “Pataki has, in each previous case, had political ties to his appointees. He's certainly avoided anyone who smelled like a liberal Democrat.”
But many in the legal community, Republican and Democrat, are asking Pataki to consider reappointing Smith, 69, the only black judge on the court.
The high court's makeup is more important than many New Yorkers might think. Major decisions in recent years have allowed Indian casinos to flourish, slapped the state with a multibillion-dollar bill to improve New York City schools, restricted police searches and asserted the governor's power over the Legislature in making state budgets.
A spokesman for the governor said Pataki will, by law, review all seven of the names recommended Thursday by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. Smith's name is included.
If reappointed, Smith only would be able to serve until the end of 2007, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. If Pataki reappoints him, he essentially gives the next governor the chance to fill the seat.
Smith said he wants to stay.
“This is a magnificent court,” Smith said. “There is a lot of give-and-take in the debates. There are a lot of important issues that come before the court, and I would certainly like to extend my stay on the court until I'm forced to retire by age.”
Pataki has appointed only conservative Republicans. His record contrasts with that of Cuomo, who appointed conservatives and liberals alike. Pataki's appointees:
-Victoria Graffeo, a counsel to the state Assembly's Republican minority from 1984-1994 and Pataki's former solicitor general.
-Richard Wesley, a former state Assembly colleague of Pataki. (He has since left for a position on the federal bench.)
-Albert Rosenblatt, former Republican district attorney from Dutchess County.
-Susan Philips Read, deputy counsel to the governor from 1995-97.
-Robert Smith, a major political contributor.
Pataki has been criticized by Democrats for making several appointments that will last long into the next governor's tenure, including one whose new term would have begun after Pataki left office. He pulled that reappointment off the table.
Smith, a Washington, D.C., native, came to New York in the early 1960s after attending Yale Law School and worked as a lawyer for the NAACP during the civil rights movement. He became a civil court judge in New York City in 1975 and a state Supreme Court justice in 1979, moved up to the appellate division in 1987 and was named to the Court of Appeals in 1992.
Legal experts say Smith is hard to pigeonhole. Sometimes he sides with more conservative judges, as he did in this month's decision ruling gay marriage illegal in New York. He voted with the more liberal judges in several rulings, including one that limited the police's ability to carry out searches.
“He's an independent thinker,” said former Court of Appeals Judge Richard Simons, a Utica Republican. “I didn't always agree with him, but I always respected his judgment and the reasoning he used to support it. ... I think a judge with 14 years of experience has something to contribute to the court.”
Pataki's appointee must be confirmed by the state Senate.
“The only thing I can hope is that all of those bodies and persons take a look at the whole record,” Smith said. “You could pick out five or six decisions and say he's very liberal or pick another five or six decisions and say he's conservative. I just try to look at the cases, look at the facts, study the case and listen to the arguments.”
---
On the Net:
Court of Appeals: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/
AP-ES-07-23-06 0954EDT
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