The New York Sun surveys the candidates who have expressed an interest in taking Judy Kaye’s job as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.  At present, there are two leading contenders, Jonathon Lippman and Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick.  Lippman is the former administrative judge for the system, now presiding justice of the Appellate Division, First Department.  Ciparick is an associate judge of the Court of Appeals.

Much as I hate to delve into ancient history, I will.  New York once had a stand-out Court of Appeals under Rockefeller Republican Chief Judge, Sol Wachtler.  It was a leader in thought, and neither bent nor broke under pressure.  Then that ninny went off the deep-end in 1992 and blew it.  Rarely has one man’s personal collapse caused as much trouble for so many.

Since then, the New York Court of Appeals has floundered, both intellectually and ideologically.  It has become a follower court, going with the prevailing trends rather than creating the trends that others will follow.  The time when the New York Court of Appeals told the United States Supreme Court that it would follow it’s own darn Constitution, which provided stronger protections than those wobbly-kneed, wishy-washy Washingtonian dandies, was over.  It would fall in line, like a good little court.

So what’s Paterson’s plan?

“I can only guess that he wants to put a very bright liberal in the center seat of the court,” an Albany Law School professor who is a close watcher of the Court of Appeals, Vincent Bonventre, said.

Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no basis for this “guess”, and one has to wonder what is meant by “very bright liberal” these days.

This quasi-appointment has the potential to be a watershed event, particularly given the potential that the next president could wreak havoc according to who gets the next Supreme Court nod.  We may need a strong Court of Appeals more now than before to counterbalance a SCOTUS inclined to make some monumental changes to our already suspect Bill of Rights.  With this in mind, dipping in the same old judicial well may not be the right place to find a new Chief Judge.

And so, the state selection commission should look beyond the safe bets, those candidates who would be on “anybody’s” short list, and seek someone who can fill the gap.  We need to find a leader.  But that won’t be easy.

One challenge facing the state’s commission, which has begun soliciting applications, will be to convince partners at law firms and law school professors to apply, a lawyer involved in the selection process said. In getting to the Court of Appeals, lower court judges have fared better than lawyers in private practice in recent years, a law professor at Columbia University, Richard Briffault, said.

Referring to the density of top lawyers in private practice in New York City, Mr. Bonventre said: “In just a few blocks’ radius you could pick seven people and make a great court, so there’s no excuse that we don’t have a great court.”

Will Gov. Paterson see it this way?  That’s hard to say, as we really don’t know him all that well.  It’s not like he was elected governor and put through the ringer of electoral scrutiny.  True, he was elected Lieutenant Governor, but that’s about as meaningful as dog catcher.  Maybe less.

Scuttlebutt is that Paterson will be a one-term wonder in Albany, unless he pulls off some major coup that elevates him in the eyes of New Yorkers and gives us a reason to want him back.  Judging from this past legislative term, that’s not going to happen.  At the moment, he aspires to mediocrity, though in fairness he inherited his lackluster performance from the beloved Eliot Spitzer, friend to all (and really close friend to some).

But Paterson could have a lasting impression on the State of New York with this one appointment.  He could make up for failing the bar the first time by making a bold appointment, a person who has a clear vision in the tradition of New York’s dear protection of freedom and liberty.

David Paterson, give us a leader.  Go back and read Berger and Belton II, and see what a leader does.  That leader could be Jim Yates.  Or perhaps a private lawyer who owes no debt to the system.  But if you have only one chance to make an impact on the future of New York, do it here.  Give us a leader.