New Yorkers can celebrate the appointment of Jenny Rivera as associate judge of the New York State Court of Appeals by Governor Andrew Cuomo and her confirmation by the State Senate as required by the Constitution not only because she is a well-qualified candidate but because her appointment demonstrates that the judicial selection system approved by the people of the State of New York in 1977 works exactly the way it is supposed to.
Recalling the circumstances which brought about the change from an elective system to a qualification commission-based appointive system provides perspective for why New York changed its method of filling the state’s top court bench. In testimony presented before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on the Commission on Judicial Nomination on June 5, 2009, Victor A. Kovner, then chair of Modern Courts explained, "[P]art of the impetus for establishing a commission-based appointive system for the Court of Appeals was the electoral defeat in the early nineteen-seventies of the late and beloved Judge Harold Stevens, the first African-American to serve on the New York Court of Appeals" by an extremely well-financed campaign.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
