Fellow judges say centrist jurist Hector LaSalle — Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nominee for chief judge — could fix New York’s COVID-ravaged courts and improve its judiciary system if only progressive Democrats would give him a chance.

“If you want to keep crime down, if you want to keep make sure justice is served … You have to have someone who understands the institution, how it works, how the courts work, and who would understand that better than [LaSalle]?” former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said.

“That’s how you help human beings: to get their day in court, to get justice,” the liberal ex-judge added.

Lippman explained there is much more to the chief judge job than sitting in court and writing legal opinions, reflecting on his own years managing the court system and its billion-dollar budget from within the rough and tumble of Albany politics.

Such an attention to details by LaSalle – who would become the first Latino to lead the Court of Appeals if confirmed by the state Senate – equally applies to the courtroom, say supporters who include outspoken criminal justice reformers.

Even Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez defended LaSalle’s record, telling The Post, “I am intimately familiar with Judge LaSalle’s extensive judicial record finding for those who have been failed by our criminal legal system.

“He has repeatedly found for defendants who have been deprived of a fair trial due to misconduct or error by prosecutors, ineffective assistance of defense counsel, or flawed decisions by trial judges,” he added.

Yet, activists, union leaders and at least a dozen Democratic state senators are opposing his nomination by what Lippman called “cherry-picking” a handful of controversial rulings while ignoring his ability to streamline the court system amid rising crime.

That legislative acumen was a key reason why Hochul chose LaSalle in the first place out of seven candidates screened by a state panel.

“Governor Hochul has been clear that she is focused on getting our courts functioning as efficiently and effectively as possible to help ensure safety and justice for all New Yorkers, and Judge LaSalle’s extensive experience shows he is the best person to do exactly that,” Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays told The Post Thursday.

LaSalle quickly made a name for himself as a fair-minded jurist after joining the Second Department eight years ago, according to judicial colleagues past and present.

He soon got credit for administrative smarts as well following his 2021 appointment by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to preside over the Second Department that now has nearly two dozen judges, hundreds of employees and a $69 million budget.

“The court was in very dire straits at that point,” longtime appellate judge William Mastro told The Post. “To say the morale was low is an understatement.”

But things turned around after LaSalle got to work cutting administrative fat, firing ineffective personnel and clearing a backlog of thousands of cases despite lacking a full roster of nearly two dozen judges under his watch, according to fellow judges.

A knack for listening as well as experience on both sides of the judicial bench won the former Suffolk prosecutor a growing number of fans among criminal defenders, prosecutors, judges and staff who keep the courts running.

“If he’s asking you to do something, it’s only because he’s done it before and he’s working twice as hard as you. He’s got a lot of credibility with his colleagues – a lot of credibility. I don’t think you’ll ever run into anybody who has ever worked with him who has a different opinion,” Mastro added.

Supporters say LaSalle could similarly inspire confidence in the state’s highest court following the resignation of ex-Chief Judge Janet DiFiore under a cloud of scandal last year.

“This guy is as balanced a judge as I’ve ever seen,” a sitting state court judge told The Post. “He’s no dying heart liberal, but he is no rightwing ideologue. He looks at the facts of the case and applies the applicable law,”

His lefty critics argue that his confirmation for a 14-year term would tilt the seven-member court rightwards, especially on testy issues like limiting cash bail that progressives argue make the criminal justice system more fair for people accused of crimes.

“A careful and somewhat closer look at those cases does not actually show LaSalle to be the ideological conservative that his opponents claim,” Albany Law School Professor Vincent Bonventre wrote in an analysis of LaSalle’s judicial record released Thursday.

Hochul meanwhile has highlighted how an effective leader of the state courts could help spare many New Yorkers unnecessary jail time by making the court system work more efficiently after several years of pandemic-related disruptions.

Pending misdemeanor and felony cases have increased 55% and 17%, she noted in a Dec. 23 op-ed while arguing how his leadership qualities could save many people safe from rising crime and unnecessary incarceration alike.

“The pandemic took a major toll on the operations of the courts and our new chief judge must work aggressively to return court activity, especially criminal proceedings, to pre-pandemic levels to protect public safety,” Hochul said.

If confirmed by the state Senate, LaSalle would also make history as the first Latino chief judge.

Legislators have never rejected a gubernatorial pick for chief judge.

But that could change this time around given the number of far left-leaning Democratic state senators opposing his nomination and a recent rules tweak by their legislative supermajority to pack the Judiciary Committee with potential no votes ahead of a confirmation hearing.

“The outgoing chief has been deemed by many to be the worst Court of Appeals administration in modern history and a number of us are anxious to see the court regain his stature and get back on trace,” Deputy State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told WNYC Thursday.

“I don’t think this is a close call. Justice LaSalle represents the status quo on this Court of Appeals,” he added.

Roughly 50 out of 63 members – including more than two dozen Democrats – of the state Senate have yet to publicly say whether they will support or oppose his nomination.

While LaSalle lacks the unabashed progressive credentials to overcome opposition from the political left, labor unions, and some Democratic senators supporters say his leadership skills ought to make state senators think twice before rejecting him in the end.

“One of the things I found about him is that this guy, even when you’re getting nonsense from the other side,” the sitting state court judge said.

“He’s so patient, and willing to listen and try to decipher where there’s a good idea and try to elaborate on it, and execute it, and no matter who it comes from which is what you want from an administrator.”

Additional reporting by Carl Campanile.