Victoria A. Graffeo (born April 13, 1952) is a former judge of the New York State's Court of Appeals. Judge Graffeo was appointed to the court by Republican

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...

in 2000 for a 14-year term. Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

declined to appoint her to a second term, and she left the bench on November 29, 2014.

Education

Graffeo graduated from the

State University of New York at Oneonta The State University of New York at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public university in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta N ...

in 1974. She earned her law degree from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

three years later.

Legal experience

She was in private practice (1978–1982) before entering government service in 1982 as an assistant counsel to the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She served as counsel to then

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

Minority Leader ''Pro Tempore''

Kemp Hannon J. Kemp Hannon (born January 10, 1946) is an American politician. A Republican, Hannon was a member of the New York State Senate from the 6th district in Nassau County between 1989 and 2018. Biography Hannon graduated from Chaminade High S ...

(1984) and as chief counsel to then Assembly Minority Leader Clarence D. Rappleyea, Jr. (1989–1994). On January 1, 1995, she was appointed

Solicitor General for the State of New York A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Dennis C. Vacco and served in that capacity until appointed, in September 1996, by Governor George E. Pataki to fill a vacancy in the State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District. She was elected that November to a full term as Justice of New York's State Supreme Court and, in March 1998, became an associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department. Her selection for a 14-year term to New York State's Court of Appeals, also by Governor Pataki, was confirmed by the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

on November 29, 2000. Judge Graffeo applied to the New York State Commission on Judicial Nominations to be considered for appointment to a second term. The Commission included Graffeo on its list of seven candidates for the position. Governor Andrew Cuomo declined to reappoint Graffeo and instead selected Appellate Division, Third Department Justice Leslie E. Stein for the position. Stein's nomination was confirmed by the

on January 9, 2015.

Personal life

Victoria Graffeo, who comes from an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

family, resides in

Guilderland, New York Guilderland is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Gu ...

.Albany Law Review
And like the man she apparently will replace, Justice Graffeo is an Italian American who lives in the Albany suburb of Guilderland."

References

External links

Albany Law School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graffeo, Victoria A. 1952 births Living people Albany Law School alumni American jurists American people of Italian descent Judges of the New York Court of Appeals New York (state) lawyers People from Guilderland, New York People from Rockville Centre, New York Solicitors general of New York (state) State University of New York at Oneonta alumni 20th-century American women judges 20th-century New York state court judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department justices