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.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 10/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 300/year
New York Court of Appeals · 1997–2003Second Circuit Court of Appeals · 2003–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- New York State Court of AppealsAssociate judge · 1997–2003
- Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial DepartmentAssociate justice · 1994–1996
- Supreme Court of the State of New York, Seventh Judicial DistrictJustice · 1987–1994
- Private practice, Geneseo, New York1976–1987
State assemblyman · 1983–1987- New York State AssemblyAssistant minority counsel · 1979–1982
- Private practice, Pittsford, New York1974–1976
Appointments
2003–2016 · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Education
- Cornell Universityjd
J.D. · 1974- State University of New York at AlbanyB.A. · 1971