Paterson Criticizes Panel for Its Judicial Selections
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Jeremy W. Peters
Source: The New York Times
Date: 12/04/2008
Article reports that New York Governor David A. Paterson (D-NY) "blasted" the state's Commission on Judicial Nomination for not presenting him with a single woman on its seven-person short list for chief judge. Calling the incident "an outrage and an injustice," Gov. Paterson "asked the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, to examine whether the pool of candidates might be expanded and whether the process by which candidates are selected should be revised." Gov. Paterson said "he would not ignore the recommendations of the bipartisan commission, but found the commission's selections to be "highly unusual." The commission's chairman, John O'Mara, issued a statement saying that "it is imperative that the commission maintain its independence in order to ensure that the merit selection process works properly."