Richard Duncan Simons (March 23, 1927 – July 17, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was Acting Chief Judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

from 1992 to 1993.

Life

Simons was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

from 1963 to 1983. In January 1983, he was appointed a judge of the

. After the resignation of

Sol Wachtler Solomon "Sol" Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from New York. 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 ...

in November 1992, Simons was chosen Acting Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. He presided until the appointment of Judith S. Kaye in March 1993, and then resumed his seat as associate judge. He retired from the bench at the end of his 14-year term in January 1997. His wife Muriel died aged 64 in March 1992 at the Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, after being treated for a

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

with a wrong drug.

Cisplatin Cisplatin is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of cancers. These include testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, br ...

("Platinol") was given instead of

carboplatin Carboplatin, sold under the trade name Paraplatin among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of forms of cancer. This includes ovarian cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, brain cancer, and neuroblastoma. It is used b ...

("Paraplatin"). He resided in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

with his second wife, Esther Tremblay Simons. On July 17, 2022, Simons died at the age of 95.

References

Sources

The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Simons
Political Graveyard

His wife's death, in NYT on May 13, 1992

Listing of Court of Appeals judges, with portrait

His retirement announced, in NYT on April 6, 1996 1927 births 2022 deaths New York Supreme Court Justices Chief Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Politicians from Niagara Falls, New York Politicians from Rome, New York Military personnel from New York (state) {{NewYork-politician-stub