As the former Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals in the late '70s and early '80s, I tender an illustrative glimpse "behind the curtain," related to when the Court of Appeals happens to be short-handed, without a quorum (five) or full complement (seven) of its en banc judges.

This is not the first time in a relatively short historical period when the court experienced a significant numerical turnover of judges. In 1972, when the members of the court were still elected in statewide contests, three new judges won—Judges Domenick "Mike" Gabrielli, Hugh R. Jones and Sol Wachtler. They were sworn in and started their service on Jan. 1, 1973 with the then-continuing four judges of the court.