Sol Wachtler
Solomon Wachtler (born April 29, 1930) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992. Known for the remark, "A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity" (in People v. Liberta), Wachtler was a key figure in making spousal rape a criminal offense. He achieved national notoriety when he was charged with, and then convicted of, acts stemming from threats he made against a former lover and her daughter. Upon conviction, Wachtler served thirteen months in prison and a half-way house.
Wachtler graduated with both a B.A. and an LL.B. from Washington and Lee University. He began his political career in 1963, when he was elected to be a councilman in the town of North Hempstead, New York. He was elected to the New York State Supreme Court in 1968, and to the New York Court of Appeals in 1972, where he served for nearly 20 years and authored close to 400 opinions. He was appointed Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1985.
His decision in Chapadeau v. Utica Observer protected the right of the defendant newspaper (and by extension of the press in general) to cover issues of public concern without undue exposure to suits for libel. The reasoning of the Chapadeau decision was influential with courts throughout the United States.
Wachtler wrote the majority opinion in a 1988 right to die case interpreting the statute's requirement of "clear and convincing evidence" that a person who can no longer communicate would have wanted to die in a particular circumstance. The majority opinion set a stricter standard of "clear and convincing" than the lower courts, and refused to let a patient's family withdraw life support. General statements by a person that he or she would not want to live in such a condition are not acceptable under the decision. The decision was criticized by right-to-die organizations as being too strict and unworkable, and taking decision-making away from family members. Wachtler was criticized for writing the decision while his own 86-year-old mother was recovering from a stroke. His formulation of this higher standard of proof was later adopted by the United States Supreme Court.
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