New York Court of Appeals

The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in New York. Its judges are chosen by gubernatorial appointment. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with when they joined the bench and whom they succeeded.

Roster as of the CourtListener bulk-data snapshot (2026-03-31): recent departures and appointments may not be reflected, so it is shown as “on record,” not “currently serving.”

Judges on record

• SRSusan P. Read2003
• EPEugene F. Pigott Jr.2006
• JLJohn M. Leventhal2008
• JRJenny Rivera2013
• LSLeslie E. Stein2015

Former judges

Judge	Years
SASheila Abdus-Salaam	2013–2017
APA. Gail Prudenti	2011–2015
JLJonathan Lippman	2009–2015
TJTheodore Theopolis Jones	2007–2012
BMBernard J. Malone Jr.	2005–2012
RSRobert Sherlock Smith	2003–2014
VGVictoria A. Graffeo	2000–2014
ALAlfred D. Lerner	1998–2004
ARAlbert Martin Rosenblatt	1998–2006
RWRichard C. Wesley	1997–2003
Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick	1993–2012
HLHoward Arnold Levine	1993–2003
GSGeorge Bundy Smith	1992–2006
DCD B. Crew	1991–1997
MMMilton Mollen	1989–1990
EPElizabeth W. Pine	1989–2008
JBJoseph William Bellacosa	1987–2000
JSJohn W. Sweeny Jr.	1987–1999
SHStewart Freeborn Hancock Jr.	1986–1993
FAFritz Winfred Alexander II	1985–1992
VTVito Joseph Titone	1985–1998
Judith Smith Kaye	1983–2008
RSRichard Duncan Simons	1983–1997
VPVincent Pizzuto	1982–1998
BMBernard Stern Meyer	1979–1986
RMRoger Jeffrey Miner	1976–1981
LCLawrence Henry Cooke	1975–1984
JFJacob D. Fuchsberg	1974–1983
SRSamuel Rabin	1974–1974
HSHarold Arnoldus Stevens	1974–1975
WTWilliam C. Thompson	1974–1980
HJHugh Richard Jones	1973–1984
SWSolomon Wachtler	1973–1992
DGDomenick L. Gabrielli	1972–1982
JRJack Rosenberg	1971–1982
JGJames Gibson	1969–1972
MJMatthew Joseph Jasen	1968–1985
CBCharles David Breitel	1967–1978
MMM H. Martuscello	1967–1978
KKKenneth B. Keating	1966–1969
FBFrancis Bergan	1963–1972
JSJohn F. Scileppi	1963–1972
SFSydney Francis Foster	1960–1963
ABAdrian P. Burke	1954–1973
JVJohn Van Voorhis	1953–1967
CFCharles W. Froessel	1950–1962
BBBruce Ditmas Bromley	1949–1949
SFStanley H. Fuld	1946–1973
MDMarvin Rood Dye	1945–1965
TTThomas Day Thacher	1943–1948
CDCharles S. Desmond	1941–1966
ACAlbert Conway	1940–1959
ILIrving Lehman	1940–1945
ELEdmund H. Lewis	1940–1954
JFJohn Ridley Finch	1935–1943
ELEdward T. Loughran	1934–1953
LCLeonard C. Crouch	1932–1936
CPCuthbert W. Pound	1932–1934
IHIrving G. Hubbs	1928–1939
Abram Elkus	1919–1920
FCFrederick E. Crane	1917–1939
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo	1914–1932
WCWilliam H. Cuddeback	1913–1919
JHJohn W. Hogan	1913–1923
WBWillard Bartlett	1906–1916
ECEmory A. Chase	1906–1921
GIGeorge L. Ingraham	1896–1915
WRWilliam C. Ruger	1883–1892
WAWilliam F. Allen	1870–1878
CACharles Andrews	1870–1897
RERobert Earl	1870–1894
Charles James Folger	1870–1880
LWLewis Bartholomew Woodruff	1868–1869
JPJohn Kilham Porter	1865–1867
HSHenry Rogers Selden	1862–1865
WWWilliam B. Wright	1862–1868
GDGilbert Dean	1855–1855
AGAddison Gardiner	1847–1855
CRCharles H. Ruggles	1847–1855

How a judge reaches this court. Judges of the New York Court of Appeals are appointed by the governor to 14-year terms. New York’s court of last resort is the Court of Appeals (not the trial-level Supreme Court): the governor appoints from a nominating commission list with Senate confirmation to 14-year terms. Selection methods vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time; this page reflects the court’s current method (source: National Center for State Courts). Open any judge to see their tenure and whom they succeeded.

Source: CourtListener / Free Law Project (bulk data); selection method from the National Center for State Courts. Data as of 2026-03-31 (CourtListener bulk snapshot). Verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).