Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals, established in 1846, was the highest court in the state of New York.  The Court of Appeals originally had eight members; each justice, after being elected by general ballot, served an eight-year term on the court. 

In 1870 a reorganization of the Court of Appeals reduced the number of justices to seven.  Each justice served a fourteen-year term unless he reached the age of seventy, the mandatory retirement age for a judge on the Court of Appeals.