(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Prestigious National Civil Rights Group Opposes NY Chief Judge Nomination. So does Soledad O'Brien [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-15 Sherrilynn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the LDF from 2013 to 2022, and current President and Director-Counsel Emeritus. Click on this Tool enabling constituents to contact their State Senators directly to oppose the nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to the NY State Court of Appeals Founded by the NAACP in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. It has been on the front lines of every prominent civil rights battle ever since, including today’s battles over DeSantis’s effort to stifle thought in colleges and federal legislation seeking to compel prosecutors to pursue more cases and harsher penalties. Yesterday, the LDF came out strongly against Governor Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle as Chief Judge of New York’s highest Court. I outlined the issues in the nomination last week in this story, Urgent: What you can do Now to Stop Confirmation of Anti-Choice, Anti-Union Chief Judge in New York. Those supporting the pick are relying substantially on his status as potentially the first Puerto Rican Chief Judge. That’s one reason the LDF’s opposition is significant: Governor Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle as Chief Judge of New York’s highest Court. While the “LDF congratulates Justice LaSalle for being the first Latinx person to be nominated” to the highest Court in New York, it cannot endorse him: “Justice LaSalle’s record fails to demonstrate a commitment to civil rights and racial, gender, and economic justice,” said LDF Director of Policy Lisa Cylar Barrett, “and includes decisions to deny constitutional protection to claims of jury discrimination on the basis of skin color, shield so-called pregnancy crisis centers from full legal scrutiny, and approve the questionable interrogation of a 15-year-old who had ‘fundamental problems’ understanding his due-process rights.” Labor unions have also come out strongly against Judge LaSalle. He was on the wrong side on issues like Independent contractor vs. employee status and the Cablevision v. Communication Workers case, which permitted corporations to bring defamation claims against union leaders. The appointment would “entrench a longstanding imbalance by installing a majority of four judges on the Court of Appeals who are former prosecutors, ” according to LDF Director of Policy Lisa Cylar Barrett. Over 100 Reproductive Rights groups oppose the nomination, as do 33 immigrants’ rights groups. For me, the most compelling argument against LaSalle is the experience with DiFiore. Her disastrous reapportionment decision may have given the House to Republicans. How can a Democratic Governor, elected with the support of progressive groups, create that risk again, when there are many other highly qualified nominees she could have chosen. Click on this Tool enabling constituents to contact their State Senators directly to oppose the nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to the NY State Court of Appeals Finally, this thread has an excellent summary: x She's calling in every political favor and spending all her political capital on this nomination, which is opposed by half the Dems in the state Senate, many reproductive rights orgs and most unions. She's turned it into the highest-profile fight since Cuomo's resignation. https://t.co/uZgoy9Q28y — Peter Sterne (@petersterne) January 14, 2023 Click on this Tool enabling constituents to contact their State Senators directly to oppose the nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to the NY State Court of Appeals [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/15/2147287/-Prestigious-National-Civil-Rights-Group-Opposes-NY-Chief-Judge-Nomination-So-does-Soledad-O-Brien Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/