Richard C. Wesley

Richard Carl Wesley (born August 1, 1949) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He previously served on every level of New York's judiciary—including six years on the state's highest court—and represented New York's 136th District in the state legislature.

Early life and education Wesley was raised in the hamlet of Hemlock, New York, where his father drove a fuel-oil delivery truck and mother worked first as a butcher and later a nurse. He earned a B.A. summa cum laude in American History from the University at Albany, SUNY, where he played on the university’s inaugural football squad and served in student government.

Early legal and political career Law practice Wesley began his legal career with Harris Beach in Rochester. He then returned to Geneseo as an associate at Welch, Streb & Porter, a Livingston County firm where he became partner in 1977. During this period he also served as secretary of the Livingston County Bar Association and as a member of the Seventh Judicial District Grievance Committee.

In 1982, Wesley was elected as a Republican to represent New York's 136th State Assembly district, succeeding Emery. He was reelected without opposition in 1984. The New York Times profiled Wesley as "a justice rooted in small-town life and values."

Federal judicial service On March 5, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Wesley to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to fill the seat vacated by Judge Pierre N. Leval, who had assumed senior status. Both of New York's Democratic senators championed the nomination: Senator Hillary Clinton called Wesley a "superb jurist" who "sought to improve the quality of justice and the lives of the people who appeared before him," and Senator Chuck Schumer described him as having "a top-flight legal mind" and someone who "has made an excellent judge in New York State." He received his commission on June 12, 2003, and was sworn in on July 21, 2003.

Judicial philosophy Wesley has described himself as “conservative in nature, pragmatic at the same time, with a fair appreciation of judicial restraint,” adding that “I ... have always restricted myself to what I understand to be the plain language of the statute. ... As long as the language is plain, we should restrict ourselves.”

Notable decisions In re Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum Served on the Museum of Modern Art, 93 N.Y.2d 729 (1999) (quashing a subpoena for provenance records in a Nazi-looted-art investigation). Hamilton v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 96 N.Y.2d 222 (2001) (declining to impose a common-law duty on handgun manufacturers to the general public). Padilla v. Rumsfeld, 352 F.3d 695 (2d Cir. 2003) (Wesley, J., dissenting) (arguing that a U.S. citizen detained as an enemy combatant was entitled to counsel and judicial review). United States v. Am. Express Co., 838 F.3d 179 (2d Cir. 2016) (holding AmEx’s anti‑steering rules did not violate Sherman Act § 1), aff’d sub nom. Ohio v. Am. Express Co., 585 U.S. 529 (2018). United States v. Silver, 948 F.3d 538 (2d Cir. 2020) (affirming corruption and money‑laundering convictions of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. 656 (2021). In re Purdue Pharma L.P., 69 F.4th 45 (2d Cir. 2023) (Wesley, J., concurring) (urging the Supreme Court or Congress to clarify bankruptcy courts’ power to approve non-consensual third-party releases).

Selected publications Note, Developments in Welfare Law—1973, 59 859 (1974). New York’s Court of Appeals: A Personal Perspective, 48 1461 (1998). Hugh Jones and Modern Courts: The Pursuit of Justice Then and Now, 65 1123 (2002). When Law and Medicine Collide, 12 261 (2003). If Legislators Fail, Who Is There to Follow?, 68 703 (2005). A Tribute to Hon. George Bundy Smith: A Friend and Colleague, 34 1156 (2007). A Portrait of Judith S. Kaye, 84 676 (2009). Being Like Boehm: David Boehm, , Feb. 2014. Feinberg Redux—An Inside Look at the Second Circuit, in , at v (Cornell Law Review, ed., 2016). New York Law in Federal Court: A Brief Word on Certification, , May 2020, at 20.

Personal life A lifelong athlete, Wesley completed the Wineglass Marathon in 3h 52m and the Chicago Marathon in 3h 39m. For seven years, he pulled overnight shifts as a driver with the Livonia Volunteer Ambulance & Fire Department, often negotiating blizzards and dense Finger-Lakes fog to ferry patients to area hospitals. He continues to serve on the Myers Fund (a local children's charity), the United Church of Livonia’s board of trustees, and advisory councils at Cornell Law School and Cornell University.