NY judge gets Senate approval to fill U.S. Court of Appeals vacancy

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Jun 13, 2003 by Nora Jones

With a 96-0 vote by the U.S. Senate, Livingston County native Richard Wesley was approved for the open seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-Erie County) recommended Judge Wesley to the White House last September and New York Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton backed the nomination.

After months of background checks, questionnaires and interviews, Judge Wesley watched the Senate vote on c-span. He will be officially sworn in on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 when he is introduced to his colleagues by Chief Judge John M. Walker at the Second Circuit.

"I plan to do something in Rochester in July," said Judge Wesley. "The Monroe County Bar Association has been instrumental in my success. I cut my teeth as a judge in the Seventh Judicial District and I greatly appreciate those who have supported me from the beginning."

A lifetime resident of upstate New York, Judge Wesley earned his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany in 1971, completing his juris doctor at Cornell Law School in 1974. Admitted to the bar in 1975, Judge Wesley was in private practice from 1975 to 1986.

He served in the New York State Assembly from 1979-1986. In 1986 his service career shifted as he was elected to a 14-year term as New York State Supreme Court Justice in the Seventh Judicial District. During that assignment he became the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Courts of the Seventh Judicial District from 1991-1994.

In 1994, Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed Judge Wesley to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department where he served under Presiding Justice Dolores Denman until January 1997 when Gov. Pataki appointed him to the New York State Court of Appeals.

Judge Wesley plans to maintain his home in Livonia, spending at least one week out of three in Manhattan.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit hears appeals from federal district courts throughout New York, Vermont and Connecticut. Second Circuit cases are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.