Solomon "Sol" Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...
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 Chief Judge, was that district attorneys could get grand juries to "indict a ham sandwich".
He achieved national notoriety when he was charged with, and then convicted of, acts stemming from threats he made against a former lover, Joy Silverman, and her daughter. Upon conviction, Wachtler 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
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York but was mostly raised in the South due to the fact that his father, Phillip, was a traveling salesman.
His mother, Faye, was an immigrant from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
.
Wachtler graduated with both a
B.A. and an
LL.B. from
Washington and Lee University.
He served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
before moving to
Great Neck
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincorp ...
,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
, near his wife's family, where he worked as an attorney.
Career
He began his political career in 1963, when he was first elected to be a councilman, then Town Supervisor of the Town of
North Hempstead, New York.
In 1968 after a failed bid for Nassau County executive Republican Governor
Nelson Rockefeller appointed him to the
New York State Supreme Court.
In 1972, he was elected to 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 ...
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
''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish ass ...
'', 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.
Also 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 was a key figure in making
spousal rape a criminal offense.
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
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
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 affair with
Joy Silverman
Joy Silverman (born April 8, 1947) is an American socialite and Republican Party operative and fundraiser.
Early life and education
Silverman was born Joy Fererh on April 8, 1947, the daughter of Jeanette (née Rothenberg) and Ben Fererh. In 195 ...
. At the time, 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 four
trusts
A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...
stemming from Wolosoff's estate for the benefit of Silverman and her family.
The trusts (in aggregate) were reported to be worth US$24 million at the time.
[ According to then- United States Attorney Michael Chertoff, over time, Wachtler received fees of more than US$800,000 for his work as executor and trustee of the entire estate. After Silverman ended the affair in September 1991, Wachtler began to harass her.
Wachtler was arrested on 7 November 1992, on charges including ]extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of 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. He eventually pleaded guilty to harassing Silverman and threatening to kidnap her daughter. He resigned as a judge and from the bar, and Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Judith S. Kaye
Judith Ann Kaye ( Smith; August 4, 1938 – January 7, 2016) was an American lawyer, jurist and the longtime Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, serving in that position from March 23, 1993, until December 31, 2008.
She was the firs ...
to replace him as chief judge of the N.Y.S. Court of Appeals. He served his sentence, first at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, and from December 1993 at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota after he was stabbed in the shoulder while dozing in his cell in November.[
Wachtler was sentenced to 15 months, but received time off for good behavior.][ His sentence started 28 September 1993.][ He 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
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' Magazine. He is currently an adjunct professor at Touro Law School
Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, commonly known as Touro Law Center, is an ABA accredited law school. It is located on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Central Islip. The Law Center is part of Touro University, a private ...
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
The Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court of the State of New York are the intermediate appellate courts in New York State.
There are four Appellate Divisions, one in each of the state's four Judicial Departments (e.g., the full title of the ...
on October 2, 2007.
Personal life
Wachtler married his high school sweetheart, Joan Carol Wolosoff, the daughter of homebuilder Leon Wolosoff, granddaughter of lumberman Max Blumberg
Max Blumberg (1880–1938) was a Lithuania-born American businessman and philanthropist.
Biography
Blumberg was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States when he was 14 settling in New York City. He worked as a mi ...
, and niece of New York State Senator, George Blumberg. They had four children: attorney Lauren Wachtler Montclare; Marjorie Wachtler Eagan, a docent
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
; 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 New York Mets former owner Fred Wilpon.Long Island Business News: "The son in law also rises"
March 31, 2006 Wachtler lives in Manhasset, New York.
In Popular Culture
The Season 4 episode "Censure" of Law & Order is based on Wachtler's affair and conviction.
References
Sources
* The Political Graveyard
Wachtler, Sol
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
{{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
New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes
Touro College faculty
Novelists from New York (state)
American male non-fiction writers
Judges convicted of crimes
20th-century American male writers