Cuomo’s sixth pick for 7-member high court due next month

A screening panel will submit names to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo by Tuesday for his sixth pick to the state’s seven-member Court of Appeals.

Cuomo will then have 30 days to choose among the candidates to nominate a successor to Judge Susan Read, who retired earlier this year. So far, all of the Democratic governor’s selections to the state’s top court have been Democrats.

Earlier this month, Cuomo tapped Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore to succeed the retiring Jonathan Lippman as the court’s chief judge. She still must be confirmed by the Senate, which doesn’t return to Albany until Jan. 6.

— Yancey Roy