Moderator's introduction.

• Author: Bonventre, Vincent Martin

Good afternoon and welcome. As Faculty Advisor of the Albany Law Review, I get to bask in the reflected glory of these extraordinary students, and I get to stand up here before you, neither an alum nor a chief justice. My Italian mother thinks I'm great, so ...

But the credit, of course, for this event goes to the Albany Law Review, and especially our Editor-in-Chief, Caitlain Lewis, and our State Con Editor, Jessie Cardinale. Now, we are talking about "great women, great editors". And Jessie--Jessie is responsible for organizing and coordinating every little thing about this event.

This event is hosted by the Albany Law Review's annual issue of State Constitutional Commentary.

The Albany Law Review, as some of you may not know, is actually the first student-edited law journal in the country, and it remains one of the most esteemed, and in fact one of the most heavily cited, of any law journals in existence.

State Constitutional Commentary is now in its sixteenth year. It began at this school with the help of Founding Chair Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, and it serves as the only law school scholarly publication devoted exclusively to American state courts and American state judges and their decision-making, especially in the realm of public law.

This symposium is now in its fifth year, and I have to say we have had some really exceptional events in the past. Last year, we had an event that was moderated by our current great Chief Judge, Jonathan Lippman, on wrongful convictions. The year before, we had several state supreme court justices from around the country talking about their toughest decisions.

The year before that, Chief Judge Kaye, our beloved, wonderful, gracious, magnificent Chief Judge Kaye, actually gathered her entire court here, and each one of them spoke about their favorite judge and court history.

Now, about Chief Judge Kaye. She was invited, but it was impossible for her to come. She swore to me it was absolutely impossible, but requested that I read this letter greeting you. So, I'm going to do that right now:

Great Women, Great Chiefs (1) February 16, 2011 Having searched fruitlessly for the words that sufficiently convey my dismay for not being with you today, I will simply plunge ahead to congratulate Albany Law School for having conceived, and now executed, the idea for this wonderful symposium, Great Women, Great Chiefs. I can, moreover, give personal testimony that, with Margaret Marshall, Marsha Ternus and Jean...