He serves as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District, having been elected to his post in November 2022.
Marcelle previously served as Albany County attorney and as a judge of the Cohoes, New York City Court.
In 2001, Marcelle argued and won Good News Club v. Milford Central School, a religious liberty case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nomination met with "vocal condemnation from quarters of the county's LGBT, labor and progressive Democratic communities".
[8] Opponents of the nomination launched a website calling for legislators to vote against Marcelle, decrying his work with Alliance Defending Freedom.
[9] The nomination sparked "weeks of heated debate" about whether Marcelle's employment with "a conservative Christian group that opposes abortion and gay marriage should disqualify him" from the position.
Marcelle made this move after having asked the state's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics whether his work with the Sheriff's Office created a conflict of interest with his part-time judgeship on the Cohoes City Court.
[3] Marcelle was elected as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District, in November 2022.
[4][13] Marcelle was recommended as a federal court nominee in 2018 by Congressmen John Faso and Lee Zeldin.
[14] On January 3, 2019, Marcelle's nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.
[18] On August 29, 2019, the Albany Times Union reported that Marcelle had withdrawn his name from consideration "after his nomination was blocked by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand over his opposition to abortion".