Backers of Justice Hector LaSalle, the governor's pick for chief judge, say it's unfair to classify him as conservative based on intermediate appellate decisions—because he's circumscribed by New York Court of Appeals precedent.

It begs the question about how the political body and court watchers can evaluate him at all. It's a question of importance as the state Senate is set to conduct the first public hearings about Gov. Kathy Hochul's nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle, who is the presiding justice of the Appellate Division's Second Department.