Richard C. Wesley

Judge
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Richard C. Wesley is a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. At the time of his appointment in 2003, he was a judge for the New York Court of Appeals.

Judge Wesley engaged in the private practice of law from the time of his admission to the New York Bar in 1975 until 1986. During three years of that period, he served as assistant counsel and chief legislative aide to N.Y. Assembly Minority Leader James L. Emery.

In 1982, Judge Wesley was elected to the Assembly, and was re-elected in 1984, representing Livingston, Allegany, and Ontario counties. In 1986, Judge Wesley was elected to a 14-year term as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court from the Seventh Judicial District. He served as supervising judge of that district's criminal courts from 1991 to 1994.

He was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo to the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Fourth Department, 1994. He was subsequently appointed, in 1996, to the N.Y. Court of Appeals by Governor George Pataki.

Judge Wesley received his Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany in 1971, and his Juris Doctorate degree from Cornell Law School in 1974.