When Gov. Kathy Hochul nominated Appellate Division, Second Department Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle to be the next chief judge of New York's courts, 149 organizations sounded the alarm that LaSalle would ensure a continuation of previous Chief Judge Janet DiFiore's 4-3 conservative majority.

Forty-six law professors were alarmed by his opinions on reproductive rights, unions, and criminal justice.

Fourteen state senators publicly declared that they would oppose LaSalle's nomination, casting his confirmation into question.

Since then, there has been a steady hum of op-eds and letters here in the Law Journal raising the possibility that perhaps LaSalle is not quite so bad. Perhaps all these voices were hasty—in fact, if you look closely at LaSalle's record, does it really show such conservative tendencies?