Gov. Kathy Hochul said she nominated Judge Hector LaSalle to become the state’s top judge because he was the right person to “bring a fractured court together.”Credit…Hans Pennink/Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/nyregion/hector-lasalle-chief-judge.html

From: Peter Martin <pmartin@communityalternatives.org>

Dear allies,

As many of you know, yesterday Gov. Hochul nominated Justice Hector LaSalle, one of the most conservative judges in New York, to be the state’s next Chief Judge—and the backlash was swift and powerful. In under a day, eight Democratic senators had already announced their public opposition, the AFL-CIO and CWA had put out statements of opposition, and many other organizations did the same, including the Working Families Party.

We have an incredible opportunity to block this awful nomination within the next few days. Please join us in the fight by taking the following actions today:

1. Ask all elected officials and organizations that you have relationships with to put out statements of opposition to LaSalle immediately.
   1. You can scroll CCA’s Twitter feed for statements that have already been released, as examples.
   2. While only state senators will get to vote on the nomination, statements of opposition from other elected officials are also helpful—as are statements by any organizations. 
   3. If you’d like more information on LaSalle’s record, see pages 12-14 of this factsheet.
2. Direct as much outreach as you can today to all senators who have not yet announced public opposition to LaSalle, demanding that they state their opposition—publicly and immediately.
   1. As of right now, the senators who have publicly announced opposition are Rivera, Jackson, May, Salazar, Brouk, Brisport, Hinchey, and Gonzalez. Several other senators have told us privately that they are opposed. We do not doubt their sentiments, but what is needed right now are public commitments that put them on record and help convince others to come forward too.
   2. Every other senator should receive overwhelming outreach ASAP—until they put out a public statement of opposition.
   3. To contact your senator and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, you can use this tool or call/email/tweet at them directly. This tracker document lists phone numbers and Twitter handles, and email addresses are listed at nysenate.gov.
3. Pass along this information and these requests to anyone else who can take these actions and help put out the call to action.

Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you all for all your support in this

Peter F. Martin 

Director of Judicial Accountability | Center for Community Alternatives, Inc.

25 Chapel Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 | communityalternatives.org

pmartin@communityalternatives.org | 917-558-1479 | @peter_f_martin

www.Newhourforwomen.org