The Ups and Downs of New York's Right to Counsel: The Cooke, Lippman, and DiFiore Courts

By Chloe Petry

Chloe Petry is a 2025 graduate of Albany Law School. Prior to attending Albany Law School, she earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia, studying Biology and Botany. In law school, Chloe was the Managing Editor for Production, Research, and Writing for the Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 35. She was also the President of the Albany Law School Environmental Law Society.

New York’s state constitutional right to counsel is far more robust and expansive than its federal counterpart due to the New York Court of Appeals’ (“the Court”) extensive review of the right, which furthered constitutional protections for the accused. However, as this paper will discuss, the Court’s review has not always been as progressive, nor has it continued to build on existing precedent.

It appears the Court has taken steps backwards and weakened the right. The New York Constitution holds that any “suspect in a criminal matter . . . who requests representation may not be questioned further in the absence of an attorney.” Also, “[b]y extension, a suspect who has invoked the right cannot voluntarily waive the right to counsel without an attorney present.”  This right is described as “indelible:” s defined as “marks that cannot easily be removed.” 

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke: An Era of Progression in New York State

By Jaime M. Collins

Jaime Collins is a third-year student at Albany Law School. She graduated from the University of Albany in 2012 with a major in Political Science and a double minor in Chinese and History. She has been working at the New York State Assembly since 2012, and continues to do so while attending Albany Law.
Jaime is currently a member of the Albany Law Review; she is this year's Executive Editor for the annual New York Appeals issue. She has been interning at the Albany County District Attorney’s Office since this past summer. She previously interned at the Appellate Division, Third Department, for Justice Christine M. Clark.
Upon graduation, Jaime hopes to pursue a career as a Prosecutor.
This paper was prepared for Professor Bonventre’s Court of Appeals Intensive Seminar.

This paper takes a look at some of the many landmark decisions written by Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, Albany Law School class of 1938. Undeniably, many of his decisions have had a lasting impact on the jurisprudence of the New York Court of Appeals and especially the law of fundamental rights.

The first part of this paper is a brief introduction to Chief Judge Cooke’s journey to the high court. The second part is an examination of his landmark decisions, divided into three parts: first, an analysis of those decisions written by Chief Judge Cooke regarding a defendant’s fundamental right to counsel; second, an analysis of vehicle searches and a comparison to the Supreme Court’s rulings on the same topic; and third, an analysis regarding due process.

Chief Judge Cooke authored all of the cases that will be discussed. The paper closes with a few concluding observations.
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To read the paper, open HERE.