| Vito J. Titone | |
| Office: | Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals |
| Appointer: | Mario Cuomo |
| Term Start: | May 28, 1985[1] |
| Term End: | September 1, 1998[2] |
| Predecessor: | Lawrence H. Cooke |
| Successor: | Albert Rosenblatt |
| Birth Date: | 5 July 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York City, New York |
| Death Place: | Staten Island, New York City, New York |
| Party: | Democratic |
Vito Joseph Titone[3] (July 5, 1929 – July 6, 2005) was an American judge who served as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1998.[1] [4]
Titone was known as a liberal lion of the state's highest court. One of his most notable decisions was the majority opinion in Braschi v. Stahl, which recognized for the first time that a gay couple could be considered a family under the law.[5]
Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Queens, Titone received his law degree from St. John's University School of Law, where he was a classmate and close friend with future Governor Mario Cuomo, who later appointed Titone to the Court of Appeals.[6] [7] He died on July 6, 2005, in Staten Island, New York City, New York at age 76.[8]