Mark Grisanti

Mark John Grisanti (born October 21, 1964) is an American lawyer, politician, and former judge from New York.

After being elected to the New York State Senate in District 60 on the Republican Party line in 2010, Grisanti took office as a State Senator on January 3, 2011. Grisanti served in the State Senate from 2011 to 2014, when he was defeated in the Republican primary and lost his third-party bid for re-election in the general election. Grisanti is notable as one of four Republican members of the New York State Senate that voted in favor of the Marriage Equality Act in 2011.

Grisanti was appointed to the New York State Court of Claims in May 2015 and later became an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Eighth Judicial District. Grisanti was censured in 2024 for his conduct in a 2020 altercation with a police officer and for judging matters involving another attorney "with whom he had an ongoing financial relationship". Later in 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to re-appoint Grisanti to a new term on the Court of Claims; he was succeeded by Peter Weinmann.





== Early life, education, and early career ==

Grisanti was raised in Buffalo as the youngest of six brothers and sisters. He graduated from Canisius College and Thomas M. Cooley Law School.