Sol Wachtler

Solomon "Sol" Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992. Wachtler's most famous quote, made shortly after his appointment as Chief Judge, was that district attorneys could get grand juries to "indict a ham sandwich".

Wachtler achieved national notoriety in 1992 when he was charged with various crimes stemming from threats he made against a former lover, Joy Silverman, and her daughter. After resigning his judgeship, Wachtler pleaded guilty to the charges and served thirteen months in prison and a half-way house. After his release, Wachtler became an author and critic, as well as an advocate for the mentally ill.

Early life and education

Wachtler was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, but was mostly raised in the South because his father, Phillip, was a traveling salesman. His mother, Fay, was an immigrant from Russia. Wachtler is Jewish. Wachtler graduated with both a B.A. and an LL.B. from Washington and Lee University. He served in the United States Army before moving to Great Neck on Long Island, near his wife's family, where he worked as an attorney.

Career

Wachtler began his political career in 1963, when he was first elected to be a councilman and then a town supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead, New York. In 1968, after a failed bid for Nassau County executive, he was appointed to the New York Supreme Court by Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller. In 1972, he was elected to the New York Court of Appeals where he served for nearly 20 years and authored close to 400 opinions. In January 1985, Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo appointed him Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals.

The same month as his appointment, Wachtler was quoted by the New York ''Daily News'' as saying that "district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that 'by and large' they could get them to 'indict a ham sandwich. This quote was then used by Tom Wolfe (and attributed to Wachtler) in Wolfe's 1987 novel ''The Bonfire of the Vanities'', paraphrased into "a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich', if that's what you wanted." As of 2018, the "ham sandwich" phrase remains in common usage in legal discussions.

Wachtler's 1975 decision in ''Chapadeau v. Utica Observer'' protected the right of the defendant newspaper (and by extension of the press in general) to cover issues of public concern without undue exposure to suits for libel. The reasoning of the ''Chapadeau'' decision was influential with courts throughout the United States.

Wachtler was a key figure in making spousal rape a criminal offense. He was known for the remark, "A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity" (in ''People v. Liberta'').

Wachtler wrote the majority opinion in a 1988 right to die case interpreting the statute's requirement of "clear and convincing evidence" that a person who can no longer communicate would have wanted to die in a particular circumstance. The majority opinion set a stricter standard of "clear and convincing" than the lower courts, and refused to let a patient's family withdraw life support. General statements by a person that he or she would not want to live in such a condition are not acceptable under the decision. The decision was criticized by right-to-die organizations as being too strict and unworkable, and taking decision-making away from family members. Wachtler was criticized for writing the decision while his own 86-year-old mother was recovering from a stroke. His formulation of this higher standard of proof was later adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States.

As Chief Judge, Wachtler served not only as the head of the Court of Appeals, but also as the chief administrator for the state court system. He made significant administrative changes, called for the merit selection of judges, implemented streamlined procedures, reduced opportunities for " judge shopping", and reformed the state's grand jury system. Wachtler also tried to improve women's and minorities' access to justice. He created a New York State Judicial Commission for Minority Concerns, a Workforce Diversity Program, and a New York State Task Force on Gender Bias.

Criminal charges and resignation

In 1988, Wachtler began an extramarital affair with Joy Silverman. Wachtler was a co-executor of the estate of Alvin Wolosoff, Silverman's stepfather and the uncle of Wachtler's wife. He was also trustee of trusts that benefited Silverman and her family. United States Attorney Michael Chertoff indicated that Wachtler received fees amounting to over US$800,000 for his work as executor and trustee of the Wolosoff estate. After Silverman ended their affair in September 1991, Wachtler began harassing her.

Wachtler was arrested on November 7, 1992 on charges including extortion, racketeering, and blackmail. Prosecutors alleged that he demanded a $20,000 blackmail payment in exchange for turning over compromising photographs and tapes of Silverman with her then boyfriend, attorney David Samson. After being released without bail, Wachtler resigned his judgeship on November 10. On March 30, 1993, Wachtler pleaded guilty to harassing Silverman and threatening to kidnap her daughter. On September 9, 1993, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Wachtler began serving his sentence on September 28, 1993. at the medium-security Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina. Beginning in December 1993, he was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota after having been stabbed in the shoulder while dozing in his cell in November. Wachtler also served some of his sentence at a halfway house. He received time off for good behavior and was released after serving 13 months.

Later life

After his release from prison, Wachtler wrote a prison memoir, ''After the Madness'' () and a book of fiction, ''Blood Brothers'' (). He also contributed to the book ''Serving Mentally Ill Defendants'' () and has written as a critic-at-large for ''The New Yorker''. He has worked as an adjunct professor at Touro Law Center and Chair of the Law and Psychiatry Institute of North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital. He is an advocate for the mentally ill and has received awards from the Mental Health Association of the State of New York and New York City. Wachtler's New York law license was restored by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division on October 2, 2007.

Personal life

Wachtler has reportedly been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He has attributed his criminal behavior to his mental health difficulties.

Wachtler married his high school sweetheart, Joan Carol Wolosoff, the daughter of homebuilder Leon Wolosoff, granddaughter of lumberman Max Blumberg, and niece of New York State Senator, George Blumberg. They had four children: attorney Lauren Wachtler Montclare; Marjorie Wachtler Eagan, a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; actress and model Alison Wachtler Braunstein; and real estate developer Philip Wachtler. His daughter, Lauren, married attorney Paul Douglas Montclare in 1983. His son, Philip Wachtler, is married to Robin Wilpon, daughter of former New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon. Joan Wachtler died August 21, 2022. Wachtler lives in Manhasset, New York.

References

Sources

* The Political Graveyard
Wachtler, Sol

Further reading

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachtler, Solomon
1930 births
Living people
20th-century American memoirists
20th-century American novelists
Chief judges of the New York Court of Appeals
New York Supreme Court justices
Place of birth missing (living people)
Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni
People with bipolar disorder
People from Manhasset, New York
New York (state) Republicans
American male novelists
Jewish American novelists
Jewish American people in New York (state) politics
New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes
Touro College faculty
Novelists from New York (state)
American male non-fiction writers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Judges convicted of crimes
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
American lawyers with disabilities