22 Facts About Sol Wachtler

Sol Wachtler was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992.

Sol Wachtler achieved national notoriety in 1992 when he was charged with various crimes stemming from threats he made against a former lover, Joy Silverman, and her daughter.

Sol Wachtler was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, but was mostly raised in the South because his father, Phillip, was a traveling salesman.

Sol Wachtler served in the United States Army before moving to Great Neck on Long Island, near his wife's family, where he worked as an attorney.

Sol Wachtler began his political career in 1963, when he was first elected to be a councilman and then a town supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead, New York.

Sol 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.

Sol Wachtler was criticized for writing the decision while his own 86-year-old mother was recovering from a stroke.

Sol Wachtler made significant administrative changes, called for the merit selection of judges, implemented streamlined procedures, reduced opportunities for "judge shopping", and reformed the state's grand jury system.

Sol Wachtler tried to improve women's and minorities' access to justice.

Sol Wachtler created a New York State Judicial Commission for Minority Concerns, a Workforce Diversity Program, and a New York State Task Force on Gender Bias.

In 1988, Sol Wachtler began an extramarital affair with Joy Silverman.

Sol Wachtler was a co-executor of the estate of Alvin Wolosoff, Silverman's stepfather and the uncle of Sol Wachtler's wife.

Sol Wachtler was trustee of trusts that benefited Silverman and her family.

Sol Wachtler was arrested on November 7,1992 on charges including extortion, racketeering, and blackmail.

On March 30,1993, Sol Wachtler pleaded guilty to harassing Silverman and threatening to kidnap her daughter.

Sol Wachtler served some of his sentence at a halfway house.

Sol Wachtler received time off for good behavior and was released after serving 13 months.

Sol Wachtler contributed to the book Serving Mentally Ill Defendants and has written as a critic-at-large for The New Yorker.

Sol Wachtler has worked as an adjunct professor at Touro Law Center and Chair of the Law and Psychiatry Institute of North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital.

Sol Wachtler is an advocate for the mentally ill and has received awards from the Mental Health Association of the State of New York and New York City.

Sol Wachtler has attributed his criminal behavior to his mental health difficulties.

Sol Wachtler married his high school sweetheart, Joan Carol Wolosoff, the daughter of homebuilder Leon Wolosoff, granddaughter of lumberman Max Blumberg, and niece of New York State Senator, George Blumberg.