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Moving Category:New York Supreme Court Justices to Category:New York Supreme Court justices per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Infobox judge
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Constantine George Cholakis
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = [[Senior status|Senior Judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]]
| term_start = June 30, 1996
| term_end = December 1, 1996
| office1 = Judge of the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]]
| term_start1 = March 17, 1986
| term_end1 = June 30, 1996
| nominator1 =
| appointer1 = [[List of federal judges appointed by Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan]]
| predecessor1 = [[Roger Miner]]
| successor1 = [[David N. Hurd]]
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = {{nowrap|Constantine George Cholakis}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|10|06}}
| birth_place = [[Troy, New York|Troy]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|12|01|1930|10|06}}
| death_place = [[North Greenbush, New York|North Greenbush]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| death_cause =
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| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| otherparty =
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| education = [[Siena College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]]) [[Albany Law School]] ([[Juris Doctor|J.D.]])
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}}
'''Constantine George Cholakis''' (October 6, 1930 – December 1, 1996) was a [[United States federal judge|United States district judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]].

==Education and career==

Cholakis was born in [[Troy, New York|Troy]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. He was a non-commissioned officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]] in the [[Korean War]] from 1951 to 1953, and then entered college. He received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in sociology from [[Siena College]] in 1955, and a [[Juris Doctor]] from [[Albany Law School]] in 1958. He was in private practice of law in Troy from 1958 to 1970, and he held various positions in the public sector. He was an assistant district attorney of [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer County]], New York from 1963 to 1965, and he was an assistant public defender for that county 1966 to 1967. He became [[district attorney]] in 1968, and held that position until 1974. He was then a county judge from 1974 to 1977, and was a justice of the [[New York Supreme Court]], Third Judicial District, from 1978 to 1986.<ref name=FJC>{{FJC Bio|425|nid=1379081|name=Con. G. Cholakis}}</ref> While on this court, his most famous ruling was to annul the suspension of the license of a physician who assisted in [[home births]], a practice that New York's Department of Health had opposed.<ref>FRANKLIN WHITEHOUSE, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/13/nyregion/judge-annuls-suspension-of-a-physician-in-home-birth-case.html?sec=health JUDGE ANNULS SUSPENSION OF A PHYSICIAN IN HOME-BIRTH CASE]", ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 13, 1981.</ref>

==Federal judicial service==

Although a lifelong [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], he was initially reluctant to accept a national position in federal court. He agreed, however, to allow Senator [[Alfonse M. D'Amato]] recommend him for to a seat on the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]] that had been vacated by Judge [[Roger Miner]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|title=Con G. Cholakis, 66, Judge Who Made Key Ruling in Pataki Race|first=Wolfgang|last=Saxon|date=3 December 1996|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> On February 7, 1986, President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated Cholakis. Cholakis was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on March 14, 1986, and received commission on March 17, 1986.<ref name=FJC/> He had a high reputation as an able and diligent judge, and an ''[[Albany Times Union]]'' survey among judges and lawyers rated him first for impartiality in 1994,<ref name=obit/> and the "Con G. Cholakis Judicial Excellence award" was named in his honor, awarded each year in New York.<ref>[http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2005/08/29/daily11.html "Troy justice to be honored for impartial performance"], The Business Review (Albany), August 29, 2005.</ref>

==Notable case==

Cholakis' most famous ruling was to allow [[Libertarianism|Libertarian]] candidate [[Robert L. Schulz]] to run for [[Governor of New York]], even though Schulz had had numerous legal problems involving tax advice and compliance with election laws. This move angered many Republican leaders, since Schulz was seen as a threat to Republican [[George E. Pataki]]'s candidacy. However, this helped to cement Cholakis' reputation as an impartial judge who valued fair rulings more than party loyalty.<ref name=obit/>

==Later life and death==

Cholakis assumed [[senior status]] on June 30, 1996 due to a certified disability, and died of an unspecified degenerative disorder in [[North Greenbush, New York|North Greenbush]], New York, on December 1, 1996.<ref name=obit/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Roger Miner]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]]}}|years=1986–1996}}
{{s-aft|after=[[David N. Hurd]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholakis, Constantine George}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War]]
[[Category:People from Troy, New York]]
[[Category:Siena College alumni]]
[[Category:Albany Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Siena College faculty]]
[[Category:New York (state) Republicans]]
[[Category:New York Supreme Court justices]]
[[Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York]]
[[Category:United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan]]
[[Category:Public defenders]]
[[Category:Rensselaer County district attorneys]]

Constantine George Cholakis - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:New York Supreme Court Justices to :Category:New York Supreme Court justices per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy