Approximately 300 miles separate Buffalo and the surrounding areas from Court of Appeals Hall in Albany, but jurists and legal pioneers from Western New York have nonetheless played a crucial role in our New York State legal history. From Judges on the Court of Appeals to politicians on local and national stages, Western New York has produced no shortage of legal luminaries who have helped shape our legal system. Indeed, Western New York’s proud legal heritage includes such names as John Roberts, Robert H. Jackson, Frank H. Easterbrook, Grover Cleveland, and Millard Fillmore. And the region’s impact on our own Court of Appeals is a tradition that continues to this day: Two of the six currently sitting Judges of the Court are Western New York residents who routinely traverse the length of Interstate 90 to travel to our State’s capitol when the Court is in session.
Next Thursday, Western New York’s contributions to our legal heritage will be center stage in a new program about five “first” women who all hailed from the region: the first woman admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the first woman admitted to practice law in New York State, the first woman to argue before the Court of Appeals, the first woman District Attorney in New York State, and the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress. As a fitting tribute, remarks about these pioneering women will be given by some of their present-day counterparts from the region, including Hon. Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., Hon. Paula L. Feroleto, Hon. Erin M. Peradotto, Michelle Henry, Prof. Bernadette Gargano, Michael B. Powers, Esq., and Congressman Brian Higgins. Continue reading