New York, 30 Dec. Lawyers, politicians, businessmen and other Latino community leaders rallied to defend New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s nomination of Judge Héctor LaSalle as Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, the highest judicial forum in the state. later rejected by community groups and Democratic senators the election as too conservative.
The group was formed under the name “Latinos for LaSalle” with a mission to combat an “unprecedented effort to distort LaSalle’s criminal record” and prevent him from being named the first Latino to head the Court of Appeals and the entire state judicial system.
“When a governor appoints a chief justice (the highest office in the state), it is the responsibility of the public and the legal community to discuss his judicial record and weigh his record to ensure that the most qualified candidate for such an important office is confirmed. “, they indicated in a joint statement.
“That’s not what’s happening to Judge LaSalle, a lawyer with a lifetime of court experience,” said the group, which has among more than 30 members former Bronx County Chairman Fernando Ferrer; union leader Dennis Rivera; businessman Jeffrey Garcia, president of the Latino Restaurant Association; Melissa Mark Viverito, former City Council President; and Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, former New York Secretary of State.
The group noted that Judge LaSalle has heard more than 5,000 cases over his career, “but an organized group of people who support other candidates decided to pick a handful of cases (whose decision the judge didn’t like) in an unprecedented, false and insane campaign to distort his record” as a lawyer.
“We will not allow this to continue,” said the coalition, which also announced that it had created the page www.LatinosforLaSalle.com as part of its campaign in defense of the Puerto Rican-born judge.
The group said there have been dozens of judges appointed to the Court of Appeals since the 1974 judicial reforms and that the State Senate has never blocked the election of a governor to the highest judicial forum.
“Why does this have to be any different?” question assuring that they will not “idlely watch” in the face of what they called the “agenda” of groups “who often claim to speak for the marginalized” and who “willfully misrepresent Judge LaSalle’s record and speak truthfully their own lies only to achieve their political ends.
The judge’s nomination needs to be approved by the Senate, which has a Democratic majority like Hochul, whose nomination committee could hold public hearings next week.
They also indicated that the www.LatinosforLaSalle.com portal was created to “correct distortions,” publicize new members of the grassroots movement, and publicize important details about the candidate for state chief judge “that opponents are leaving behind.” part by distorting its judicial record”.
As of 2021, LaSalle presides over the Brooklyn Court of Appeals, leading a state court that has 21 associate justices and more than 400 staff with a budget of $69 million.EFE
rh/nqs
.
