Judith Kaye — New York’s former chief judge, who’s been tapped to lead two investigations into Gov. Paterson — is an upstate native famous for championing judicial pay raises, gay marriage and much-imitated special courts to address drug abuse and mental health.
As the longest-serving chief judge in New York history and first woman to hold the post, Kaye was, for 25 years, the face of the state’s court system — so much so that she once received a letter from a prison inmate that began, “Dear Mother of Justice.”
When Kaye retired in 2008, Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault, summing up her legacy in the New York Law Journal, described her as very similar to Sandra Day O’Connor — “only more liberal.”
Throughout her time on the bench, Kaye voted against the death penalty, defended gay rights and wrote a highly regarded opinion ordering more state funding for New York City public schools.
She also eliminated all jury-duty exemptions, opened family court to the public, and helped establish so-called “problem-solving courts” to address specific society ills like domestic violence and gun crimes, which other states have copied.
She’s also famous for a legal battle that’s still ongoing.
After years of sparring with Albany, Kaye in 2008 sued the state to get pay raises for New York judges, who haven’t had a hike since 1999.
Kaye, who now works for the Midtown law firm Skadden Arps, was raised in rural upstate Monticello. She spent her childhood working in her parents’ store.
She was married for over 40 years to Stephen Rackow Kaye, a former partner at Proskauer Rose, who died in 2006. She lives in Manhattan.