Courting the public

Ayear ago today, the state Senate Judiciary Committee, having had its membership stacked by the majority Democrats, rejected Gov. Hochul’s nomination of the highly qualified Hector LaSalle to be the state’s chief judge. The panel roster of 10 Democrats and five Republicans had been augmented with three more Dems and one more for the GOP.

But while LaSalle could have prevailed with eight votes (five Rs and three Ds) in favor to seven Dems opposing, the three Democratic newcomers were already pledged to block him and the final result was nine in favor and 10 against.

The Senate Democrats then refused to bring the nomination to the floor even though it was required by the state Constitution and they had to be sued in court and lose. Finally, a month later, there was a roll call and LaSalle was defeated, 39–20.

You’ll have to take our word on both the committee and floor votes because there are no available records of either. In fact, the Senate, which through its generally excellent website, is wonderfully transparent and accountable regarding legislation and resolutions (detailing each sponsor, each action and every vote) there is absolutely nothing about any nominations for the judiciary and other appointed positions, from commissioners to members of innumerable boards, authorities and agencies.

The U.S. Senate tracks the progress of every nominee it receives. So does the New Jersey state Senate. So does the City Council. Doing so keeps the public informed of when the executive makes a nomination and how the legislative body acts, from committee hearing to committee vote to floor vote. Besides showing how each senator voted, such info would indicate if the governor is timely in submitting nominations and if the Senate is prompt in evaluating them.

While the Senate should fix that, the governor and Chief Judge Rowan Wilson must also attend to urgent business. The state Commission on Judicial Nomination, a 12-member panel mandated by the state Constitution for screening candidates like LaSalle and Wilson for the state’s top court, is missing three members and unable to function.

Wilson has two vacancies that must be filled immediately with outstanding people and the governor has one. With only nine members the commission is unable to muster the quorum of at least 10 as set by state law. And since Chairman E. Leo Milonas died on Jan. 2, there is no chair even though the Constitution commands that “the commission shall designate one of their number to serve as chairperson.” But the nine others can’t pick a chair because they don’t have a quorum of 10. While there is no seat on the Court of Appeals to fill right now, that could change overnight with an unexpected resignation or a death.

The fight over LaSalle’s ultimately unsuccessful nomination brought out advocates on both sides who were spending money on advertising and lobbying. Sen. Mike Gianaris rightly pointed out that such spending was wrongly exempt from disclosure and wrote a bill to close the loophole, which passed unanimously in the Assembly and with a large bipartisan majority in the Senate.

Hochul vetoed it because it was retroactive but said she would support a bill looking forward. Gianaris has a new bill ready to go. Pass it, sign it and let the public see.