Renames the supreme court the superior court and the court of appeals the supreme court

Latest action Feb 3, 2026

Renames the supreme court the superior court and the court of appeals the supreme court.

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Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A8437, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Committee

Judiciary · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Judiciary · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To rename the Supreme Court the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals the Supreme Court.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Committee vote · Judiciary
Senate JudiciaryApr 7, 2025Result: passed
(13) (6) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Rachel May

Democratic1

Rachel May

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why James Skoufis says this is needed

Due to the prominence of the Supreme Court of the United States, many residents in New York State falsely believe that the Supreme Court of the State of New York is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. This is untrue, as the highest court is the New York Court of Appeals. A seemingly inconsequential discrepancy causes misrepresentation and confusion in the general populace when high-profile cases are decided in the Supreme Court, leading many to believe that a case has finality. This legislation will propose a constitutional amendment to change the name of the Supreme Court in NYS to the superior court, and will change the name of the Court of Appeals of NYS to the Supreme Court in the NYS Constitution, thereby rectifying this extremely common misconception.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Feb 3, 2026
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Jan 30, 2026
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2026
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Senate
Jan 8, 2026
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly

Show full history (11 earlier events)

Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Jun 13, 2025
In committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
NY Senate
Jun 9, 2025
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
May 27, 2025
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Assembly
May 16, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
Apr 9, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Apr 8, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Apr 7, 2025
1ST Report CAL.639
1ST REPORT CAL.639
NY Senate
Mar 24, 2025
Referred to committee
OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Mar 6, 2025
To Attorney-general for Opinion
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION
NY Senate
Mar 5, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 3, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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