Associate Judge Rowan Wilson Nominated to Become Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and the State of New York

We applaud Governor Hochul’s nomination of Associate Judge Rowan Wilson to be Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, and thus of the entire State. We believe he is well-suited to serve, and he will be the State’s first Black Chief Judge. After a difficult and protracted fight over Governor Hochul’s initial nomination for Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, it our hope that the Governor’s nomination today will engender less rancor and we wish Judge Wilson a smooth confirmation process.

We also applaud the Governor’s intended nomination of Caitlin Halligan to serve as an Associate Judge. While we continue to question the constitutionality of any procedure that would allow the Governor to choose an Associate Judge from the four candidates on the existing Commission on Judicial Nominations list who are not already on the Court (rather than requiring that the Commission provide a new list of seven candidates), we believe that Ms. Halligan possesses the intellect and the experience (including extensive prosecutorial, law firm and governmental experience) that will serve her well if she is nominated and confirmed as an Associate Judge.

We also compliment Hon. Joseph Zayas on being endorsed by Governor Hochul to serve as the Chief Administrative Judge. He is well qualified to oversee the operations of the State’s judiciary and its 3000 judges and justices and $3 billion budget.