In 1973, he filed a petition to challenge the Democratic designees in a primary election to be nominated for Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
In 1974, he challenged again the Democratic designees in a primary election to be nominated for the New York Court of Appeals, and defeated Judge Harold A. Stevens.
Fuchsberg was the first judge in the history of the Court to be censured for misconduct after a special court convened by Chief Judge Breitel found that he traded in New York City securities without recusing himself from cases about the city's finances.
[2] As a judge, Fuchsberg was viewed as a liberal on criminal issues and frequently voted for the defendant in divided cases.
On August 27, 1995, he felt dizzy at his home in Harrison, New York, and was brought by ambulance to the United Hospital in Port Chester where he died from cardiac arrest.