Wachtler began his political career in 1963, when he was first elected to be a councilman and then a town supervisor of the Town of
North Hempstead, New York. In 1968, after a failed bid for Nassau County executive, he was appointed to the New York Supreme Court by Republican Governor
Nelson Rockefeller. In 1972, he was elected to the
New York Court of Appeals where he served for nearly 20 years and authored close to 400 opinions. On January 2, 1985, Democratic Governor
Mario Cuomo appointed him Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. The same month as his appointment, Wachtler was quoted by the
New York Daily News as saying that "district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that 'by and large' they could get them to 'indict a
ham sandwich. As of 2018, the "ham sandwich" phrase remains in common usage in legal discussions. Wachtler's 1975 decision in
Chapadeau v. Utica Observer protected the right of the defendant newspaper (and by extension of the press in general) to cover issues of public concern without undue exposure to suits for libel. The reasoning of the
Chapadeau decision was influential with courts throughout the United States. Wachtler was a key figure in making
spousal rape a criminal offense. He was known for the remark, "A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity" (in
People v. Liberta). Wachtler wrote the majority opinion in a 1988
right to die case interpreting the statute's requirement of "clear and convincing evidence" that a person who can no longer communicate would have wanted to die in a particular circumstance. The majority opinion set a stricter standard of "clear and convincing" than the lower courts, and refused to let a patient's family withdraw life support. General statements by a person that he or she would not want to live in such a condition are not acceptable under the decision. The decision was criticized by right-to-die organizations as being too strict and unworkable, and taking decision-making away from family members. Wachtler was criticized for writing the decision while his own 86-year-old mother was recovering from a stroke. His formulation of this higher standard of proof was later adopted by the
Supreme Court of the United States. As Chief Judge, Wachtler served not only as the head of the Court of Appeals, but also as the chief administrator for the state court system. He made significant administrative changes, called for the merit selection of judges, implemented streamlined procedures, reduced opportunities for "
judge shopping", and reformed the state's
grand jury system. Wachtler also created a New York State Judicial Commission for Minority Concerns, a Workforce Diversity Program, and a New York State Task Force on Gender Bias. ==Criminal charges and resignation==