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      judicial theory

      Governor Kathy Hochul delivers remarks

      Why Defeating Hochul's Right-Wing Judicial Nominee Is Important Beyond New York

      On the threat of legal theories that pretend laws written by the powerful to protect the powerful are somehow not ideological.

      John Teufel
      Feb 10, 2023

      To recap for anyone not lucky enough to be a New Yorker: for the last few months, leftists in the state have been fighting a fierce battle with Governor Kathy Hochul over her decision to nominate a conservative judge, Hector LaSalle, to lead the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court. Hochul lost the first (and possibly last) skirmish in that battle, as the State Senate's Judiciary Committee voted not to send LaSalle's nomination to the floor for a full vote, though it remains possible Hochul will sue the State Senate to try and force that vote.

      LaSalle's initial defeat is good news for anyone who wants to halt the Court of Appeal's recent rightward drift. The judge's record indicated he would rule in favor of prosecutors and police, and against defendants and suspects; in favor of corporations, and against unions; and that his positions on issues from consumer protection to domestic violence to immigrant rights were indistinguishable from those held by a Brett Kavanaugh or Amy Coney Barrett.

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