Several months after Janet DiFiore suddenly stepped down from her post as the chief judge of New York’s top court, Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday nominated Hector LaSalle, the presiding justice of the state Supreme Court’s Second Department, as her replacement.
Not long after, the decision recieved pushback from criminal justice advocates and some lawmakers, claiming the judge is too conservative for their standards.
If LaSalle is confirmed by the state Senate, he would lead the New York State Court of Appeals and preside over the state’s entire judiciary. Hochul also announced she’s backing LaSalle’s intention to appoint Edwina Richardson-Mendelson as the next chief administrative judge as a replacement for Lawrence Marks, who resigned from his post last month.
