Catherine Leahy Scott, former State Inspector General

The State Senate confirmed 10 justices to the state Court of Claims on Thursday, all but two of which were reappointments to the statewide court.

Among the court's two new justices is Catherine Leahy Scott, who was most recently the New York State Inspector General until she was replaced in the post earlier this year by a longtime aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo, months later, appointed her to serve on the Court of Claims, which formally deals with civil litigation seeking damages from the state, its agencies, and certain public authorities. Leahy Scott said her experience as Inspector General prepared her to serve on the court.

“The last eight years investigating state agencies and authorities as the state Inspector General, those are the same agencies and authorities that are within the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims,” Leahy Scott said.

Maureen Liccione, a principal law clerk at the Suffolk County Supreme Court, was confirmed as the other new justice on the court. She was previously a partner at Jaspan Schlesinger in Nassau County for more than a decade.

Justices who serve on the Court of Claims are commonly appointed to also serve as acting justices of the state Supreme Court. The practice has been criticized in the past by lawmakers, who have said the court shouldn't be used as an end run around the state's need for more elected judicial positions in certain areas.

All but one of the justices reappointed to the Court of Claims and confirmed by the Senate on Thursday, for example, also serve as an acting justice of the state Supreme Court.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which considers judicial nominees before they're approved by the full chamber. When he was first selected for the position earlier this year, he said he wanted to take a closer look at the practice of using Court of Claims judges to supplement the state Supreme Court.

Hoylman said Thursday that he still wants to review the issue, but envisions it as part of a broader reform of the state's trial court system.

“I think it's something that we're going to be looking at in terms of court reform and it's an effort we want to start in earnest with my Assembly counterpart, Assemblymember Dinowitz,” Hoylman said. “We discussed it, but it deserves further consideration, for sure.”

Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democrat from the Bronx, chairs the Judiciary Committee in the Assembly. He's been similarly supportive of reforming the state's trial courts, but both lawmakers have acknowledged it would be a heavy lift given the complexities of the state's system.

The issue wasn't addressed during a meeting earlier this week of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which kicked off with members unanimously sending the nomination of Leahy Scott to the floor for a vote. The full Senate, hours later, unanimously approved her nomination.

Leahy Scott, until earlier this year, was the State Inspector General. She's still the current welfare inspector general. She was previously an assistant attorney general with the New York Attorney General's Office, and also worked for more than a decade in the Columbia County District Attorney's Office.

She's had a private practice in Columbia County, off and on, for the last three decades. She started her career as a public defender in Columbia County. Leahy Scott is a graduate of the Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.

She came under fire last year when several reports from the Albany Times Union alleged that her office had turned over the confidential testimony of a state employee in a sexual harassment probe to the agency where she worked. That employee was then fired.

When asked by Hoylman about what happened, Leahy Scott said she couldn't comment on the specifics but that she agreed retaliation for testimony in a state probe was unacceptable.

“I can't speak to what another state agency is now in charge of, but certainly we can all agree that there should never be retaliation against anyone who files a complaint and truthfully testifies against anyone,” Leahy Scott said.

The eight other justices confirmed to the Court of Claims were reappointments by Cuomo.

• Justice William Boller, who also serves as an acting state Supreme Court Justice and is the Supervising Judge of the town and village courts of the Eighth Judicial District, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice Sanford Berland, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in Suffolk County, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice John Higgitt, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in the Bronx, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice Francis Kahn, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in the Bronx and Manhattan, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice Guy Mangano, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in Brooklyn, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice Stephen Mignano, who sits on the Court of Claims in White Plains, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice April Newbauer, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in the Bronx, was confirmed by the Senate.
• Justice Joseph Risi, who is also an acting state Supreme Court Justice in Queens, was confirmed by the Senate.

The Senate also confirmed four judges as interim state Supreme Court Justices.

• Justice Martin Marcus, who's currently on the Court of Claims, was confirmed as an interim state Supreme Court Justice of the Second Judicial District.
• Justice Robert Onofry, who serves in multiple roles as assigned by the Office of Court Administration, was confirmed as an interim state Supreme Court Justice of the 11th Judicial District in Queens.
• Justice Barbara Panepinto, who already serves as an appointed acting state Supreme Court Justice, was confirmed to continue in the role on Staten Island.
• Justice Ruth Pickholz, currently an acting state Supreme Court Justice in Manhattan, was confirmed as an interim state Supreme Court Justice of the 10th Judicial District.

Each of the nominations were approved unanimously by the Senate.

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