Day: April 21, 2023

Reading between the lines of contemporary articles in the New York Times, it appears the 1973 election for chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals was one between the status quo and a status-seeker.

Charles Breitel was the status quo. A sitting associate judge on the state’s highest court, Breitel was a man described by the Times as “short, tidy, self-contained.” On election night, he wore a “black suit, gray vest, gray tie." He was a man who “spent 23 of his 64 years as a judge.”

The status seeker was Jacob Fuchsberg, a self-made attorney whose bread and butter was negligence cases and who “won a measure of fame” in an adoption case that made news headlines. He also represented newspaper reporters who sought access to a closed trial.

On election night, Fuchsberg is described by the Times as wearing “a dark blue suit and a clashing purple tie.” Fuchsberg was perceived as an upstart who spent upwards of $500,000 on advertising to win an election for chief judge – something that wasn’t done at the time.