NY governor blocks phone numbers of state senators who tanked her high court nominee: Report

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has severed lines of communication with some members of the Democratic State Senate after the Judiciary Committee rejected her controversial nominee for the state's highest court, according to Spectrum News 1.

"An Albany insider ... told me that Kathy Hochul is not taking calls from some New York Senate members," the station's political commentator Gergon Borrero tweeted on Wednesday. "'She’s blocked their numbers on her cellphone."

Hochul's nominee for the powerful New York Court of Appeals, lower-court Judge Hector LaSalle, was heralded by her allies and some attorney groups as the first Latino candidate to be nominated to the position.

But the nomination was immediately clouded by anger from some Democratic lawmakers and labor unions over LaSalle's perceived right-wing record, including joining an opinion that limited the subpoena power to investigate anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers," and an opinion that allowed a corporation to sue individual labor union members.

Another controversy stemmed from a case called People v. Bridgeforth, in which LaSalle and his fellow appellate judges denied a hearing over whether a prosecutor's decision to strike all Black, Guyanese, or "dark-colored" female prospective jurors was a due process violation — a decision overturned by the Court of Appeals.

The seven-member New York Court of Appeals consists entirely of Democratic appointees. However, in practice, four of the judges appointed by Hochul's predecessor Andrew Cuomo have voted as a right-wing bloc, limiting criminal defendants' and workers' rights and expanding the power of police and prosecutors. One of the members of that bloc, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, retired last year, potentially shifting the court in a more progressive direction — but unions, activists, and many lawmakers expected LaSalle to continue the status quo and leave conservatives in charge of the court.

Ultimately, enough Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were opposed to LaSalle's nomination to block his approval — the first time a Court of Appeals nominee has been rejected in this way in the history of the New York State court system.

Hochul previously threatened to sue the New York Senate to force a floor vote by the full body, which she argued is required by the state Constitution regardless of how the Judiciary Committee votes. However, she never followed through with the threat, and ultimately Republicans in the Senate minority filed a lawsuit on behalf of LaSalle instead.