Pol sues, wants Senate vote on gov’s judge pick

ALBANY — A Long Island Republican filed a lawsuit Thursday in an effort to force the state Senate to hold a full floor vote on Hector LaSalle, Gov. Hochul’s nominee to serve as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Riverhead), who filed the suit in Suffolk County Supreme Court, is suing the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted last month against advancing LaSalle’s nomination to the full Senate.

The suit argues that the Democrats failed to follow rules laid out in the state Constitution requiring a vote by the full chamber.

“The New York State Constitution is clear. Judicial nominations must be considered before the full

State Senate,” Palumbo, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “Justice LaSalle is entitled to an up or down vote by the full State Senate, not as a courtesy, but because the Constitution requires it.”

The Democrat-led committee took the unprecedented step of voting down LaSalle following a fivehour hearing during which the jurist pushed back against claims that he is too conservative to head up the state’s sprawling judicial system.

Hochul, a Democrat, and LaSalle supporters have said they believe the full 63-member Senate must vote on nominations since the Constitution instructs the governor get the “advice and consent” of the Senate when picking a new chief judge for the Court of Appeals.

A source familiar with the suit said there was no coordination between

Palumbo and the governor’s office.

“This case presents a clear and immediate controversy, ripe for adjudication because the nomination has been neither confirmed nor rejected,” Palumbo’s suit argues.

“A vote of a mere committee of the Senate—here, the Judiciary Committee—does not satisfy the constitutional requirement of advice and consent. The Constitution does not delegate that authority to a committee,” it continues.

Judge Thomas Whelan, who is based in Riverhead, scheduled a hearing for Feb. 17.

LaSalle, a Long Island native, currently serves as the presiding justice of the 2nd Appellate Division in Brooklyn and he would have been the first Latino to lead the Court of Appeals if confirmed.

The 54-year-old jurist faced fierce pushback from a wide range of opponents who argued the former prosecutor’s judicial records showed him to be anti-union, anti-reproductive rights and overall too conservative for the post.

More than a dozen Senate Democrats openly opposed the appointment ahead of the committee vote and a rules change made earlier this year expanded the number of members serving on the panel.

Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), the chairman of the judiciary committee, and his fellow Dems have argued that while the state Constitution instructs the governor to get the “advice and consent” of the Senate on nominations it also grants each house in the Legislature the power to set its own rules.

Palumbo’s suit names all 10 Democrats who voted against advancing LaSalle’s nomination to the floor as well as Senate Majority Leader

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), who signed off on a letter to the governor notifying Hochul of the rejection.

State law requires the letter be signed by the president of the Senate, which would be Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, not Stewart-Cousins.

Last month, Stewart-Cousins issued a scathing statement in response to criticisms that the Dems failed to fulfill their constitutional duty.

A spokesman for the Senate Democrats brushed off the suit and said members named in court documents have yet to be served.

“It is embarrassing but not surprising that the Senate Republicans have no basic understanding of law or the constitution,” spokesman Mike Murphy said.

A Hochul spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.