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Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Courts - Former NY Chief Judge makes some progress in getting his license back
Bill Hughes of the New York Journal News had this interesting story today. Some quotes:
The former chief judge of New York state's highest court who suffered a spectacular fall from grace after being arrested for stalking an ex-girlfriend has received preliminary approval to have his law license reinstated.I remember this story when it happened back in the early '90s. It came to mind when I read, earlier this month, about Astronaut Lisa Nowak.Sol Wachtler, who was disbarred after his 1993 conviction on federal charges including blackmail and extortion, has received approval from the state's Appellate Division for a hearing before the Committee on Character and Fitness, a key step toward reinstatement that was denied to him on his first application in April 2003.
Wachtler, now 76 years old, made international headlines after FBI agents arrested him near his home on Long Island on Nov. 7, 1992. Wachtler ultimately admitted he sent threatening and sexually offensive letters to Joy Silverman, a Manhattan woman with whom he had carried on an extramarital affair, then tried to extort money in a scheme to win her back after their relationship soured.
On the day of his arrest, federal agents trailed Wachtler from Albany to a Thruway rest stop in Sloatsburg, where he stopped to make phone calls related to his extortion plot.
While he was in prison, Wachtler wrote an autobiography titled "After the Madness: A Judge's Own Prison Memoir," in which he advocated for significant prison reform. In September of last year he wrote an op-ed article that ran in The New York Times slamming former Gov. George Pataki's veto of a bill that would have prevented mentally ill prisoners from being placed in solitary confinement in prison. * * *
As a judge, Wachtler was instrumental in writing many ground-breaking decisions that caused major legal shifts in New York state, including the elimination of marriage defense in rape cases.
"The achievements of Wachtler have been greatly overshadowed and forgotten due to his scandalous affair with socialite Joy Silverman," wrote John Caher in his 1998 biography of Wachtler, titled "King of the Mountain."
According to Caher, former state editor for The Albany Times Union, "The judge extended free speech rights, opened legal doors for women, minorities, and the handicapped, and authored landmark decisions on the right-to-die."
Jennifer Frey of the Washington Post had a story last week on "women who snapped." Judge Wachtler may be a good example of a man who "snapped."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 21, 2007 03:23 PM
Posted to Courts in general