Sol Wachtler

Sol Wachtler – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Sol Wachtler is a former American jurist who served as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. His life is marked by legal reforms, a famous quip about grand juries, a dramatic fall from grace, and a later advocacy for mental health and redemption.

Introduction

Solomon “Sol” Wachtler is a name that resonates in American legal history—both for his accomplishments on the bench and for his dramatic personal decline and later redemption. As Chief Judge of New York’s highest court, he was a reformer, a strong voice for procedural fairness, and a thinker unafraid to critique the system from within. But his legacy is complicated by scandal and criminal conviction. Today, he stands as a cautionary tale about power, ethics, and the fragility of reputation—and also a voice advocating for mental health and accountability.

Early Life and Family

Sol Wachtler was born on April 29, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Philip Wachtler, was a traveling salesman, and his mother, Fay, was an immigrant from Russia. Though born in New York, much of Wachtler’s upbringing occurred in the rural South, where his family moved when he was young. His Jewish heritage was part of his identity, although it is less prominent in many accounts of his professional life.

He married his high school sweetheart, Joan Carol Wolosoff. Together, they raised four children: Lauren, Marjorie, Alison, and Philip. In 2022, Joan Wachtler passed away.

Youth and Education

Wachtler enrolled at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B). During his law education, he exhibited leadership, was elected president of the law school body, and graduated with honors.

After law school, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, assigned to the Provost Marshal’s office in courts and boards and instructing military law. After his discharge, he entered private legal practice in Mineola, Long Island, New York.

Career and Achievements

Early Political and Judicial Roles

Wachtler’s first forays into public life came at the local level. In 1963, he was elected as a councilman in the Town of North Hempstead, New York, and later became the town supervisor. As supervisor, he pushed initiatives such as affordable housing, park development, urban renewal, and racial integration in volunteer fire departments—efforts that sometimes attracted criticism but won respect for boldness.

In 1968, Governor Nelson Rockefeller appointed him to the New York State Supreme Court (a trial court in New York’s structure). Later that year he won election to a full term.

New York Court of Appeals

In 1972, Wachtler was elected to the New York Court of Appeals—the state’s highest court. At age 42, he was among the youngest ever to join that bench. Over the next decade, he authored hundreds of opinions, and earned a reputation for clarity, logical structure, and intellectual rigor.

His opinions often reflected what has been described as a “robust centrism” — careful, balanced, fact-specific rather than ideologically driven. Among his notable decisions:

• Chapadeau v. Utica Observer-Dispatch (1975): He safeguarded press freedom, holding that when a newspaper reports on public matters, to prevail in libel actions it required proof of gross irresponsibility.

• People v. Liberta: In this case, Wachtler forcefully rejected any notion that a marriage license should permit nonconsensual acts by a spouse. He wrote: “A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity.”

• Right-to-die cases (Storar, Eichner, etc.): In these decisions, Wachtler set a higher standard for withdrawing life-sustaining treatment absent clear and convincing evidence of the patient’s wishes. His reasoning later influenced national jurisprudence on standard of proof.

Chief Judge and Reform Efforts

In January 1985, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Wachtler as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals—and at the same time Chief Judge of the New York State Unified Court System. In that capacity, he had both judicial leadership and administrative oversight over the entire state judiciary.

During his tenure, Wachtler championed procedural reforms: simplifying court rules, clarifying jury instructions, reducing opportunities for “judge shopping,” advocating for merit-based selection of judges, and promoting diversity and fairness programs. He initiated the New York State Judicial Commission for Minority Concerns and pushed for gender-bias and diversity initiatives.

It was early in his role as Chief Judge that he made his oft-quoted admonition about prosecutorial power over grand juries: that DAs “could indict a ham sandwich” if they wanted to. That phrase has since become a shorthand in legal commentary on grand jury imbalance.

Historical Milestones & Context

• Wachtler’s career spanned an era when state courts—especially in New York—were increasingly seen as vital protectors of rights beyond minimum federal guarantees.

• His decisions in press-libel, due process, and patient rights reflected a mid to late 20th-century trend: using state constitutions as “independent grounds” for protection.

• His administration of the courts coincided with growing concerns about delays, complexity, cost, and public confidence in the judiciary. His efforts at reform were themselves landmark in New York’s judicial modernization.

However, 1992 marked a dramatic rupture. Wachtler had an extramarital affair with Joy Silverman, a Manhattan socialite. After the relationship ended, Wachtler allegedly engaged in harassment and threats toward her and her daughter. On November 7, 1992, he was arrested on charges including extortion, racketeering, and mailing threats. He resigned from the bench the same day.

In March 1993, Wachtler pleaded guilty to harassment and threats, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Due to good behavior and other adjustments, he served approximately 13 months, including time in prison and a halfway house. The public fall was steep, casting a long shadow on a once-lauded legal figure.

Legacy and Influence

Wachtler’s legacy is deeply mixed—a combination of significant legal contributions and personal scandal. On one hand, his judicial opinions, leadership in court reform, and institutional innovations left a lasting mark on New York’s legal system. His “ham sandwich” remark lives on in legal discourse about prosecutorial power and grand jury imbalance.

On the other hand, his downfall underscores the peril of hubris, the danger of unaddressed personal turmoil, and the complex interaction between mental health and ethical decision-making. In later years, Wachtler became outspoken about his personal struggles, including his diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and the role mental illness may have played in his misconduct.

His law license was reinstated in 2007, a formal acknowledgment that he had satisfied conditions for rehabilitation. In more recent years, he taught as an adjunct professor, engaged in writing, and advocated for better understanding of mental health in legal settings.

His story resonates today as a case study in judicial virtue and vulnerability, reminding us that even those at the summit of legal power are human, and that integrity must be sustained continuously, even under pressure.

Personality and Talents

Wachtler was known for his charisma, oratorical flair, humor, and public presence—even while serving in a traditionally reserved judicial role. His speeches and writings often displayed wit, insight, and rhetorical flourish. In legal circles, he was admired for clarity of style: crisp, logically ordered, plain in expression rather than overelaborate legalese.

Colleagues described him as driven and energetic. But there were undercurrents of tension, inner turmoil, and unaddressed psychological stress that would later surface.

In writing and speaking after his fall, Wachtler has shown introspection, humility, and a willingness to confront the darker aspects of ambition, reputation, and mental illness.

Famous Quotes of Sol Wachtler

Here are a selection of quotes attributed to Wachtler—some pithy, some philosophic, some legal:

1. “District attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that ‘by and large’ they could get them to ‘indict a ham sandwich.’”

2. “A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity.”

3. “A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman.”

4. “We cannot lightly allow the perpetrator of a serious crime to go free simply because that person believed his actions were reasonable and necessary to prevent some perceived harm.”

5. “You can, if you wish, think of it like the universe: Each case is a sun, and all the judges, lawyers and administrative personnel represent planets revolving around the case in fixed orbit, never getting closer.”

These quotes reflect his concern for procedural fairness, individual rights, and the interconnectedness of judicial institutions.

Lessons from Sol Wachtler

1. Power and Accountability
   Wachtler’s life reminds us that judicial authority is not immune from error. The higher one rises, the greater the need for checks, self-reflection, and humility.

2. The Role of Mental Health
   The later revelations about his bipolar disorder and his own acknowledgment that it influenced his behavior highlight the importance of mental-health support, especially in high-pressure professions.

3. Ethics Must Be Constant
   A sterling reputation can be undone by private choices. Integrity in public life is not a static credit—it is continually earned and tested.

4. Redemption Is Complex
   Wachtler’s post-conviction work—writing, teaching, advocacy—shows that recovery and contribution remain possible even after a fall, but redemption is never simple or complete.

5. Law as a Human Institution
   His decisions and leadership show that law is not mechanical: judgments, procedures, institutions are shaped by personalities, pressures, and values. His career, positive and negative, illustrates that legal institutions depend on human character as much as legal doctrine.

Conclusion

Sol Wachtler’s life is a dramatic, instructive saga: a talented jurist who rose to the height of judicial power in New York, only to fall through his own ethical and personal failings, and later seek a form of redemption through advocacy, teaching, and reflection. His legal contributions—especially in free press, spousal rights, procedural reform, and right-to-die jurisprudence—remain significant. Yet his story warns that brilliance and authority must always be tethered to responsibility, integrity, and self-awareness.

As we reflect on his legacy, we might ask: how do we design systems that allow for human error without collapse? How can institutions support—not only discipline—those who wrestle with mental health? And how can the legal profession learn from both the achievements and tragedies of figures like Sol Wachtler?

If you’d like a deeper dive into any of his opinions, his memoir After the Madness, or the criminal case that ended his judicial career, I’d be happy to provide that.