Meaningless Judicial Meetings Planned

Commission Gears Up to Pick Nominees for Ciparick's Seat
The New York Law Journal by Joel Stashenko  -  April 25, 2012

The Commission on Judicial Nomination has scheduled three public meetings to explain the process of seeking nominees to succeed Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, who is 70 and must step down at the end of the year due to mandatory retirement. The open meetings, designed to make the nomination process more transparent, will explain the qualifications for potential applicants, the selection process and rules for submitting recommendations.  The meetings are scheduled for May 8, 5:30-7:30 p.m., at the New York State Bar Association, 1 Elk St. in Albany; May 16, 12:15-1:30 p.m., at the Telesca Center for Justice, 1 West Main St., Rochester; and June 19, 6-7:30 p.m. at the New York City Bar, 42 West 44th St.  Ciparick has been on the court since 1993. Naming her replacement will be the first appointment Governor Andrew Cuomo will make to the seven-member Court of Appeals.  The 12-member commission, chaired by former chief judge Judith Kaye, counsel to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, must submit a list of between three and seven names to Cuomo by Dec. 1. The governor must then choose one nominee from the list between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15, 2013. The nomination is subject to state Senate confirmation.  The commission was criticized in 2008, especially by minority state legislators and Governor David Paterson, for submitting to a list of seven male candidates, six of whom were white, to succeed Kaye as chief judge (NYLJ, Dec. 4, 2008). Kaye pledged to make the work of the commission clearer to the public and to encourage a more diverse applicant pool.