By Noah Powelson<\/p>\n
So you want to be a judge on New York\u2019s highest court? Just apply. <\/p>\n
The New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination is currently receiving and reviewing applications for anyone seeking a seat on New York\u2019s Court of Appeals, as Senior Associate Judge Jenny Rivera approaches the end of her term on the top court. <\/p>\n
Rivera\u2019s 14-year term is set to end in Feb. 10, 2027, and while she has reportedly indicated she plans to reapply, her application will be reviewed by a recently revamped commission that will be evaluating a number of other candidates, as well. <\/p>\n
The deadline to apply is Aug. 10. <\/p>\n
With Rivera potentially not returning the bench, the move could reshape the dynamics of the state\u2019s highest court <\/p>\n
Of the seven judges on the Court of Appeals, Rivera is the only one with a career in public service and human rights advocacy. Before becoming a judge, Rivera worked for the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Family Rights Project, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and was appointed special deputy attorney general for Civil Rights for the New York State Attorney General. <\/p>\n
Martin LaFalce, an assistant professor of Clinical Legal Education at St. John\u2019s University and the director of the university\u2019s Defense and Advocacy Clinic, said her experience is directly observable in Rivera\u2019s opinions and dissents.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has been a powerful dissenter,\u201d LaFalce said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s been in the context of discrimination in jury selection, whether it’s in the context of Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, whether it is in the context of bans on the use of propensity evidence \u2013 she has been a powerful voice for the accused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four of the seven members of the Court of Appeals are former prosecutors. If Rivera is not reappointed, and if her successor does not come from a similar public interest or public defense background, LaFalce said the court would lose the perspective of those who represent criminal defendants.<\/p>\n
Since Chief Judge Rowan Wilson took over as leader of the Court of Appeals in 2024, the court has granted more criminal leave applications \u2013 requests for permission to appeal an appellate court ruling on a criminal case \u2013 compared to previous administrations. If someone without Rivera\u2019s advocacy background is chosen as a replacement, Falce said the court may be less willing to grant those applications. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne concern is that fewer criminal cases may be heard if she is not renamed to the court,\u201d LaFalce said. \u201cShe and Wilson are often aligned ideologically, but she’s the sole judge with the experience of representing people who are unhoused, representing people who have been discriminated against.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falce has also worked alongside the Center for Community Alternatives, a judicial reform advocacy group that regularly campaigns against the practice of \u201crubber-stamping\u201d trial court judges to new terms. CCA previously led the successful campaign to prevent the nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle as New York\u2019s next chief judge in 2023, the first Court of Appeals nominee in New York history to be rejected by the State Senate.<\/p>\n
Judges on the Court of Appeals serve 14-year terms and can reapply for a second term. If a judge turns 70 years old during their term, they must retire.<\/p>\n
Rivera, who is currently 65 years old, has reportedly indicated she plans to reapply. But even in the event of her reappointment, the commission would need to find a replacement for her when her required retirement comes in 2032.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Noah Powelson So you want to be a judge on New York\u2019s highest court? Just apply. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-308694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}