A lower court had dismissed the case under a state law that prohibits companies from suing unions and their representatives for labor-related activities. The appeals panel agreed that the suit against the union itself must be dismissed, but said it could proceed against union representatives who had been acting on their own.
In 2017, Justice LaSalle joined a unanimous opinion that ordered the New York attorney general to narrow a subpoena issued to the operator of anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers.” The subpoena was issued as part of an investigation by former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman into whether the operator, Evergreen Association, Inc., was engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine, and sought information about the organization’s promotional literature, corporate structure and staff.
Evergreen challenged the subpoena as a politically motivated attack and sought to have it quashed entirely. The opinion held that some of the attorney general’s demands were too broad and infringed on the organization’s First Amendment rights. “There is no question that the attorney general’s investigation is of the utmost importance to protecting the health and safety of women,” the opinion says. “However, it is equally important that such investigation be carried out with respect and sensitivity to the constitutional rights of those involved.”
Justice LaSalle’s defenders have said that these cases hinged on procedural and legal matters and that the rulings did not reflect the justice’s underlying beliefs.
The cases “do not stand for anything that the progressives say they stand for,” said Vincent Bonventre, a professor at Albany Law School who follows the Court of Appeals. “I don’t know that he’s conservative. I would say that he’s not liberal. He’s probably pretty moderate.”
Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chair, said that he believed the battle over Justice LaSalle had more to do with political flexing than with the judge’s legal philosophy.
“The progressive left, the very progressive left, the far left, as I refer to them, determined that they wanted to use this as, in my judgment, a power play,” said Mr. Jacobs, who has repeatedly come under fire from left-wing lawmakers for his stewardship of the party.