Former NYS Chief Judge Judith Kaye Dies at 77

Former Chief Judge of New York State Judith Kaye, the first woman to occupy the state judiciary's highest office, has died at the age of 77. Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

In 1993, Judith Kaye became the first female chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York State.

Appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo, who had first named her to the high court 10 years earlier, Kaye immediately had to fend off speculation she could be named to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"She’d make a great judge of the, justice of the Supreme Court. She’d make a great chief judge of the Supreme Court," Mario Cuomo said at the time. "If you can run the Court of Appeals, you can run the Supreme Court. That’s my theory."

"My only interest is in being the chief judge of the state of New York," Kaye said at the time.

Indeed, Kaye would go on to serve 15 years, the state’s longest-serving chief judge. There were notable decisions: she repeatedly opposed the death penalty, found the state had shortchanged New York City schoolkids, and, in a 2006 case, wrote a dissenting opinion supporting gay marriage. Years later, she would officiate the same-sex wedding of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

But it was in her dual role overseeing the state’s sprawling court system that Kaye was seen as a groundbreaking reformer. She revamped the jury system, eliminating automatic exemptions for lawyers and others, and she established specialized courts to focus on issues like drug abuse and domestic violence, reforms later mimicked by other states.

"The United States leads the world among developed nations in mass incarceration. Is that where we want to be a world leader, mass incarceration? No. We want to be America, a land of opportunity. We want to be a land where we give people who make a mistake and deserve a second chance, a second chance," Kaye said.

Kaye left the court in 2008 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. She joined a private firm but remained involved in public life, including appearances on NY1 and heading the judicial nominating commission that recommends judges to the Court of Appeals...a true public servant to the end.