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Robert S. Smith (New York judge)

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This page is about a New York Court of Appeals judge. For other judges with this name, please see Robert Smith


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Robert S. Smith
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Former judge
State of New York Court of Appeals
Tenure
2003-2014
SuccessorEugene Fahey
Elections and appointments
Appointed byGov. George E. Pataki
Education
Bachelor'sStanford University, 1965
J.D.Columbia Law School, 1968
Past experience
Attorney, Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard
2003
Attorney, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
1968-1981, 1981-2003

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Robert S. Smith was a judge of the State of New York Court of Appeals, New York's court of last resort. He was appointed to the court on November 4, 2003, by former Governor George E. Pataki. His appointment was confirmed by the New York State Senate on January 12, 2004.[1] Smith, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in August 2014, retired at the end of his last term on December 31, 2014.[2][3]

Education

Smith received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1965 and his LL.B. degree from the Columbia Law School in 1968.[1]

Career

  • 2003-2014: Judge, New York Court of Appeals
  • 2003: Special counsel, Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard
  • 1981-1990: Lecturer in law, Columbia Law School
  • 1980-1981: Visiting professor from practice, Columbia Law School
  • 1968-1981, 1981-2003: Attorney, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison [1]

Political ideology

See also: Political ideology of State Supreme Court Justices

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.

Smith received a campaign finance score of 0.44, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of -0.24 that justices received in New York.

The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[4]

See also

External links

Footnotes