Cuomo has 2 vacancies to fill on top court

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will shortly fill the first of two vacancies on New York's top court, following the retirement of Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick this week.

In Ciparick's 19 years on the court, she helped decide cases ranging from the expansion of canoeist rights to those that invalidated the death penalty in New York. "I was part of all of those decisions," Ciparick said yesterday. "The last one fell to me to write."

Ciparick authored the court's ruling last month that police can't simply ask stopped motorists if they have a gun but need "founded suspicion." She cited potential privacy concerns and past jurisprudence on searches and seizures. Four other judges agreed.

Other important decisions led to "a fairer standard" for aid to New York City schools, she said, and noted joining then-Chief Judge Judith Kaye in dissenting with the court majority that in 2006 found same-sex marriage wasn't protected under New York's constitution.

"We were in the minority, but I think we started the discussion," she said. "Several years later the legislature amended the statute, which was very historic. It's nice to be part of that history and these issues I think are very important."

The Court of Appeals' seven judges are appointed to 14-year terms. But, like Ciparick, they must retire at the end of the year they turn 70.

The State Commission on Judicial Nomination has proposed seven candidates to replace Ciparick, who was the court's first Hispanic and second female judge.

The second vacancy on the Court of Appeals results from the November death of Judge Theodore Jones Jr. of an apparent heart attack. The commission has until March 7 to propose candidates to replace Jones, a Spitzer nominee, to the current Democratic governor.