(The Center Square) — The New York Republican Party is blasting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pick for a vacancy on the state’s appellate division, accusing the judge of siding with Democrats on major issues before the court.
Hochul announced last week that she is tapping Justice Christina Ryba to serve as an Additional Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Third Department. Hochul praised Ryba for her “legal expertise, judicial temperament and commitment to justice” and said she “will ensure New York’s laws are applied fairly and correctly.”
But New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox blasted Hochul’s pick as “a textbook example of how New York Democrats are corrupting our courts in their quest for total control” of the state’s judiciary.
“Justice Ryba’s record should have disqualified her long ago,” he said. “In 2015, she was fired from her position as a clerk in the Appellate Division by then-Presiding Justice Karen Peters for ethical lapses – a firing that was deliberately timed on the eve of an election and concealed from voters in the Third Judicial District.”
Ryba presided over a 2023 constitutional challenge to a Democratic proposal to authorize “mail-in early voting” law, which Republicans sought unsuccessfully to block from going into effect.
But Cox claimed she “refused” for months to issue a decision after oral arguments were held in October, “effectively allowing Democrats to run out the clock ahead of the 2024 election.” He suggested the delay was “by design” and “served a clear political purpose” and noted that she later issued a “rushed, sloppy opinion that reflected poorly on her legal judgment and scholarship.”
“This is how Democrats operate in New York: judges who protect their political interests are shielded, advanced and rewarded, while the independence of our courts is sacrificed,” Cox said.
Ryba was elected in 2015 to serve as a New York state Supreme Court Justice in the Third Judicial District, according to the Hochul administration. In May, she was appointed Administrative Judge of the District. She has also served as Supervising Judge of the Supreme Court in the Third Judicial District.
Despite the GOP’s criticism, Ryba’s appointment was backed by the presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Elizabeth Garry, who said she has “every confidence that Justice Ryba will continue to make great contributions to the judiciary and our community in this new and well-deserved role.”
“Justice Ryba brings a decade of judicial service as a Supreme Court Justice, and has demonstrated her commitment to fairness and justice throughout her career, notably serving as the Co-Chair of the court system’s Permanent Commission on Access to Justice,” Garry said in a statement. “She has earned the respect of her colleagues by her work in both legal and administrative roles.”
