Victoria A. Graffeo (born 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 administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

in 2000 for a 14-year term. Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

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 College at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public college 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 Oneon ...

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 and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...

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 Assem ...

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 Scho ...

(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 by

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Dennis C. Vacco and served in that capacity until appointed, in September 1996, by Governor

George E. Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

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; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

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 ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

family, resides in

Guilderland, New York Guilderland is a 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 Guilderland is on the central-northwest borde ...

.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 American women judges 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 21st-century American women 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges