State Senate should give Hochul's court pick a fair hearing

As a dysfunctional Republican caucus has been ruling the day in Washington over the selection of a new House speaker, New York's Democrats in Albany are engaged in a similarly destructive dance over the nomination of a new chief judge for the state. Both spectacles will continue the spiral of mistrust and disgust with government.

Gov. Kathy Hochul made an excellent choice in selecting Long Islander Hector LaSalle to replace Janet DiFiore, who resigned in July. Born in Brentwood to parents from Puerto Rico, this distinguished attorney — who has worked as a Suffolk County assistant district attorney, state deputy attorney general, and private practitioner — would be the first person of color to lead the state's highest court. 

Currently the presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, LaSalle has a strong record as an accomplished jurist and a skilled administrator. Running the state's massive court system is the bulk of the chief judge's responsibility and his range of experiences makes him uniquely qualified to do so. 

Yet, LaSalle’s confirmation is being blocked by a band of leftist state senators led by Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris, who is seeking to redeem his tattered credentials after botching the state’s redistricting process last year. The Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that the Democrats' greedily imbalanced electoral maps were unconstitutional. The chaos that flowed from the hubris of Gianaris likely cost Democrats seats in the House of Representatives. Now Gianaris seeks revenge in his unprecedented moves to block the confirmation of a qualified nominee, moves that now appear to include reshaping the Senate judiciary committee to stop LaSalle.

Even before Hochul made her pick, the left started a steady drumbeat against considering a prosecutor, or anyone they judged as not being a progressive. They demanded that the state’s Commission on Judicial Nomination give Hochul a list of candidates who would legislate liberal policy, especially in criminal cases. Thankfully, the commission didn't bend to this mockery of the rule of law and neither did Hochul in her pick. 

Gianaris and his band have been dishonest about LaSalle's prior decisions, and have turned him into a caricature. LaSalle's open mind and fact-based decisions have been praised by former judges who have worked with him.

Senate Democrats, who have a supermajority in the chamber, should give LaSalle a fair hearing. Let him answer questions about his past decisions and his plans to run the state's court system. Give him a floor vote. Hochul must stand firmly behind her nominee on principle if not on political reality. The upcoming budget and legislative session will provide many opportunities for her to play hardball. If she caves to the extreme left wing of her party, she will be weakened in Albany for the remainder of her term.