Besieged by scandal, no longer even much involved in the messy business of passing legislation, Governor Andrew Cuomo is perhaps weaker than he’s ever been. The New York Democrat is awaiting the outcome of a state attorney general’s investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and another federal investigation into his cover-up of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

But in recent weeks, Cuomo inexplicably was allowed to score one significant victory: the appointment of a reactionary Democrat with a checkered political history, Madeline Singas, to the state’s highest court, the court of appeals. Some progressives and socialists tried and failed to rally opposition against Singas, who serves as Nassau County’s district attorney, undone by other Democrats in the state senate who decided to enable Cuomo.

As New York Focus reported, defense attorneys and reform advocates lobbied intensely against confirming Singas to a fourteen-year term on the court of appeals, arguing that her prominent opposition to new criminal justice reforms and tough-on-crime approach would guarantee years of right-wing rulings from the seven-member court.