In Brief: New York’s Court of Appeals — Who’s on It and What Do They Do?

In Brief articles are short explanations of important topics, agencies, and questions affecting the Empire State and its residents. Do you have a question we can answer? Ask it here.

New York’s top court, somewhat confusingly known as the Court of Appeals, meets just down the street from the state Capitol in Albany. From its stately Greek Revival building, the court issues rulings that are the final word on state law and the state constitution.

Here’s a short introduction to how the court works and who’s on it:

1. How many judges are there, and how do they get onto the court?

The Court of Appeals has seven judges, as stipulated by the state constitution. They are appointed to 14-year terms by the governor and must be confirmed by a majority vote of the state Senate.

Historically, those votes haven’t been contentious; until recently, no governor’s nominee had ever been rejected by the Senate. That changed in 2023, when the Senate’s Democratic majority voted overwhelmingly to reject Governor Kathy Hochul’s pick for chief judge, Justice Hector LaSalle, over concerns that he was too conservative. Hochul then tapped Rowan Wilson, the court’s current chief judge and a noted liberal jurist. He was easily approved in April 2023.

2. Who is on the court right now, and what are their political leanings?

It’s not ironclad, but there are clear ideological tendencies among the judges. Previous Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and her allies pushed the court in a more conservative direction, issuing decisions that frequently backed prosecutors, corporations, and landlords.

That changed when Wilson became chief judge. He and Judge Jenny Rivera are the most liberal members of the court, frequently siding with defendants in criminal cases and workers suing their employers.

Judges Anthony Cannataro, Michael Garcia — the court’s only Republican — and Madeline Singas, a former career prosecutor, were part of DiFiore’s more conservative bloc. They tend to vote to grant broader powers to law enforcement and limit the reach of government.

Judges Caitlin Halligan and Shirley Troutman, the court’s newest members, don’t consistently side with either bloc and often function as the swing votes in split cases.

That’s not to say that all decisions break down along ideological lines. Many are unanimous or 6–1, and the typical alliances are sometimes scrambled.

3. What impact do their decisions have?

The Court of Appeals’s decisions are binding on all other judges in the state court system. Though they don’t often make the headlines, they can have sweeping effects on the lives of New Yorkers.

Last year, for instance, the court issued decisions that made it harder to challenge public health regulations such as smoking bans and vaccine mandates, expanded protections against police searches for bike riders, and stripped the disciplinary powers of Rochester’s police oversight board.

The Court of Appeals also represents the last chance for criminal defendants to challenge their convictions.

The court’s decisions occasionally have national ramifications. In 2022, former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore authored a ruling stating that Democrats unconstitutionally gerrymandered when Albany drew new congressional district lines; she ordered an independent expert to redraw them.

That decision was widely seen as helping Republicans take control of the US House of Representatives in that year’s election.