Silver Hires His Boss

There are thousands of lawyers in Manhattan, and, in case you hadn’t heard, a fair number of them are active in politics. Some of them even practice politics as well as law. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is one of the latter. When he’s not cutting deals on behalf of the people of the State of New York, Mr. Silver works part-time for the personal injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg.

Recently, the speaker had an opportunity to appoint a lawyer to a state committee that examines the credentials of nominees to state judicial posts. It’s not a paid position, but it’s prestigious and important. With thousands of attorneys from which to choose, Mr. Silver settled on the senior partner of Weitz & Luxenberg, Arthur Luxenberg.

If nothing else, let it be said that the speaker didn’t spend much in the way of state resources to identify his choice for the post. He just picked a lawyer from the firm that employs him. That was easy.

Easy, and wrong. While Mr. Luxenberg will not receive a salary for his work on the Judicial Screening Committee, his presence on the panel reeks of the sort of cronyism that has long been the bane of local politics. What’s more, Mr. Silver’s action suggests that he has scant regard for the important work the screening committee performs. The quality of New York’s judicial system depends on the quality of its judges, and the quality of its judges depends on the quality of judicial screening committees.

Mr. Luxenberg may well be qualified to determine the fitness of would-be judges, but it’s a fair guess that he isn’t the only Manhattan attorney with appropriate qualifications. But his firm is the only one in Manhattan that employs the speaker of the Assembly. It’s hard not to conclude that this had everything to do with Mr. Luxenberg’s appointment.

Is that so bad? After all, Mr. Luxenberg will be working pro bono. That’s true, but the message here is disappointing. It’s the judicial equivalent of insider politics. Rather than search for the best available candidate, Mr. Silver simply turned to a lawyer whose firm employs him.

Americans are tired of politics as usual. Log-rolling, back-scratching and cronyism weren’t invented in 21st-century America, but it does seem fair to say that Washington, Albany and many other state capitals have turned insider politics into a form of low art. Voters can’t be blamed if they conclude that there is no place in politics for genuine public service.

Mr. Silver is a creature of politics as usual. In some ways, his appointment of Mr. Luxenberg is entirely consistent with his tenure as Assembly speaker. Which is a shame.