Press Release: Anthony Cannataro remains Chief Judge DiFiore's lapdog, even after she's gone.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allen Roskoff - 917-553-7180, aroskoff@mac.com
Dear Governor Hochul,
The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club is writing once again to urge you not to nominate Acting Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro to become the permanent Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Outrageously, the Commission on Judicial Nomination decided to place Judge Cannataro on a short list of seven candidates for nomination while excluding longer-serving progressive judges of color such as Judge Rowan Wilson and Judge Jenny Rivera.
In a post-Dobbs world, where the United States Supreme Court and other courts across the country are actively attacking New Yorkers’ rights, including rights of LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, it is more important than ever to elect a judge that reflects New Yorkers’ values. We write you once again to insist that, although Judge Cannataro is openly gay, he has consistently prioritized the interest of the privileged classes over those of marginalized New Yorkers. Nominating him for the Chief Judge position would be a major setback for gay rights in New York.
We wrote you previously to express three concerns: that Judge Cannataro was beholden to Chief Judge DiFiore, that Judge Cannataro has proved to be an abysmal administrator, and that Judge Cannataro has consistently joined the Court of Appeals’ conservative bloc to roll back New Yorkers’ rights. We write now to tell you that the situation has gotten worse.
It is an open secret that former Chief Judge DiFiore campaigned for Judge Cannataro, who unquestioningly voted with her in every single case, to become Acting Chief. She even went so far as to potentially violate the law by voting on his temporary elevation. Worse, it is commonly known that Chief Judge DiFiore used her influence with members of the Commission on Judicial nomination (she appointed four of the 12, and her friend Andrew Cuomo appointed three others) to block sitting judges of color from being reported out and to push for Judge Cannataro to be the only sitting Judge of the Court of Appeals to get the Commission’s approval. Judge Cannataro is complicit with the former Chief’s seemingly-racist tactics, and his willingness to become her lapdog and be used as a political pawn should alone be disqualifying.
Second, Judge Cannataro has been a disaster as Acting Chief. He has accomplished absolutely nothing on the administrative side to make our courts run more efficiently or work for everyday litigants. In his role at the Court of Appeals specifically, he has continued Chief Judge DiFiore’s practice of using the sua sponte motion track to issue short, anonymous opinions on controversial issues despite serious objections raised in thorough and well-reasoned dissents by the court’s progressive judges.
Lastly, Judge Cannataro has remained a reliable conservative vote on the court. Just a few days ago, on November 22, Judge Cannataro joined two particularly disturbing opinions, including one that he sent to the sua sponte motion track in order to avoid scrutiny.
In Howell v. City of New York, Judge Cannataro used the SSM track to protect NYPD from responsibility where a boyfriend violated a protective order to push his ex-girlfriend out of a third-story window, despite that she had called to complain about his repeat violations of the protective eight times in the six weeks prior to her attempted murder – including three days before the incident. As the dissent noted, NYPD responded only three times, and the police officers’ “actions and inactions rendered Ms. Howell’s multiple orders of protection meaningless.”
In Maldovan v. County of Erie, Judge Cannataro joined the majority in protecting Adult Protective Services from responsibility where a disabled adult suffered abuse too horrific to put in this letter, ultimately leading to her death. Despite multiple reports of such abuse, and despite the fact that the abusive mother prevented APS from talking to the victim outside of her presence, APS determined the complaints to be unfounded.
These decisions share a common thread – the desire to protect powerful interests over those of the most vulnerable New Yorkers. It’s no surprise that the New York Post’s editorial board – loyal supporters of Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin – came out in favor Judge Cannataro on November 25th. If the MAGA crowd supports him, he has no place running New York’s courts.
Acting Chief Judge Cannataro has no interest in using his power to protect those who most need it. At a time when queer rights are under repeated attack in the courts and elsewhere, what the LGBTQIA+ community needs is a judge who will use their power to protect us, not a judge who will use our identity to advance his career.
Respectfully submitted,
Allen Roskoff
President
The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club