This Monticello woman made history

As NY’s chief justice

By Rachel Zuckerman | Manor Ink

Did you know that a woman from Sullivan County was a pioneer in the fields of law and jurisprudence? A lawyer and justice who had many firsts to her name? If not, meet Judge Judith Smith Kaye.

Kaye was born as Judith Ann Smith on Aug. 4, 1938, in Monticello to Benjamin and Lena Smith. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and lived on a farm in Sullivan County and operated a women’s apparel store. She was a bright young girl. She skipped two grades and graduated Monticello High School at age 15. Then she went to study at Barnard College of Columbia University and graduated in 1958.

Following college, Kaye took a job as a reporter for the Union City, NJ Hudson Dispatch, but later decided to become a lawyer. She attended night school at New York University’s School of Law, graduated in 1962, and was one of only ten women in a class of 300.

Kaye began her career in private practice in New York City at the Manhattan law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, but later left to join the IBM legal department.

Even while raising a family, Kaye still was able to serve as an assistant to the dean of her old law school. Then, in 1969, she got hired to be a litigation associate by the law firm Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnel & Weyher, and became the firm’s first female partner in 1975.

As the Democratic candidate for New York’s governor in 1983, Mario Cuomo made a promise to appoint a woman to the highest court in the state, the New York Court of Appeals, if he were to win the election. He did win, and guess who ended up at the top of his list?

Cuomo was impressed with Kaye, and appointed her to a 14-year term as an associate justice for the Court of Appeals. In less than three years, because other justices retired or left, Kaye became the third-most-senior judge on the Court.

She served with distinction, ruling on many important cases, and in 1992, was honored with the first Ruth G. Schapiro Memorial Award, for contributions to issues affecting women.

Then, following the resignation of Sol Wachtler, the state’s Chief Judge, Judge Kaye was appointed the Chief Judge of the State of New York in February 1993, the first woman ever to serve in that position.

Prior to much of this, Kaye had married Stephen Rackow Kaye, another litigator who had been her colleague at Sullivan & Cromwell. They had three children together, but unfortunately he died in 2006.

During her inspiring career, Kaye was given many awards. She received honorary Doctor of Law degrees from a number of universities, the Distinguished Jurist Award and Gold Medal of the New York Bar Association, and the ABA Justice Center’s John Marshall Award.

Kaye’s dedication to the law made her a respected jurist until the day she died in 2016. Her many accomplishments in adjudicating cases as the first female Chief Judge paved the way for other women in the legal profession. We women can change the world for the better or for the worse – who knows? But let’s give appreciation to those like Judge Kaye who made positive changes in the world.