By Nathan Duke
Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis from Queens has been listed as a “dark horse” candidate to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who announced his retirement earlier this month.
The Atlantic Monthly reported April 30 that Souter planned to retire and named Garaufis, who grew up in Bayside, as a possible replacement. Souter, 69, told President Barack Obama on May 1 that he would retire in late June.
Garaufis, 61, said he was honored to be includes among the names circulating of potential candidates for the vacancy.
“It’s flattering to be mentioned in the company of so many talented judges, lawyers and legal scholars,” said the judge, who sits in New York’s Eastern District in Brooklyn.
Garaufis began his legal career in 1974 as an associate in the Manhattan law firm Chadbourne & Parke and served as an assistant attorney general in the state’s Litigation Bureau under Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz. He also served for nine years as counsel to former Borough President Claire Shulman.
