'Miracle' on 46th Street
By Jason Boog
jasonboog@judicialstudies.com
Posted 12-19-2007
Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye sent a message to justices seeking her support for litigation to break the pay raise logjam: No, your honors, there is no lawsuit clause.
The Chief Judge of New York state threw a press conference with all the trimmings of a television holiday special Wednesday — serving Hershey Kisses and memories instead of legal papers.
The event marked the tenth anniversary of the last judicial pay raise, and some observers expected the announcement of lawsuits or criticism of the stalled legislative negotiations over judicial cost of living adjustments. The Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye mostly reminisced about the last pay raise in her midtown chambers at the intersection of 46th Street and Park Avenue.
“Wonder of wonders, in the darkest days of December [1998], the Legislature suddenly reconvened in Albany, and in a snap, it was accomplished,” she recalled.
“Let’s have another holiday miracle, like December 1998,” the judge concluded wistfully, sounding a bit like a plucky heroine from a Dickens novel.
The judge placed all her hope in a bill (S. 6550) that the New York State Senate passed when it reconvened last week. The legislation would raise the paycheck of a Supreme Court Justice from $136,000 to $165,000.
Judges were cheered because the new bill uncouples the judicial pay raise from one for legislators — a sticky issue that has disrupted salary negotiations for years.
But the bill is completely meaningless unless the state Assembly decides to consider the package. Another pay raise bill (S.5313) has languished, untouched, since the Senate passed it in April.
And the Assembly has not even reconvened as the Senate did.
Following the press conference, Dan Weiller, spokesperson for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said, “The Speaker does support pay raises for judges, but I have no further comment on specifics.”
“We’ve been hoping all along that the Assembly would go along,” said Senator John A. DeFrancisco, the Republican Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and sponsor of the most recent bill, in a separate interview.
“There’s literally been no discussion. When I learned we were coming back, I thought it was great opportunity to put the bill out — to give the Assembly a choice between two bills. The Assembly couldn’t hide behind that issue. Now they have a choice.”
Judges have been shut out since April, when the New York Legislature dumped a promised judicial pay raise in the final hours of budget negotiations. It was a familiar snub — legislative bickering killed raises the year before.
Despite continuing to refrain from a litigious call to arms, Kaye on Wednesday enlisted a battalion of adverbs: “Don’t put us off needlessly, wrongly, disdainfully, unfairly, yet again. For us, this has been an incomparably frustrating, angering year.”
A few less patient members of the bench have sued the state government for pay raises, notwithstanding a lack of support from the Office of Court Administration.
After her remarks, Judge Kaye addressed those suits directly, while still demurring to take more dramatic action. “I’ve been following those suits closely. I think we’ve had 25 drafts of lawsuits,” she said. “For one branch of the government to sue the other, that is quite a different matter.”
The judge ended by pointing to a blindfolded statue of Lady Justice, holding the iconic scales in one hand. “Look what she has in her other hand, a sword,” said Kaye, perhaps hinting at legal rumbles still to come.
This holiday season, it seems, the sword remains sheathed.
The event marked the tenth anniversary of the last judicial pay raise, and some observers expected the announcement of lawsuits or criticism of the stalled legislative negotiations over judicial cost of living adjustments. The Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye mostly reminisced about the last pay raise in her midtown chambers at the intersection of 46th Street and Park Avenue.
“Wonder of wonders, in the darkest days of December [1998], the Legislature suddenly reconvened in Albany, and in a snap, it was accomplished,” she recalled.
“Let’s have another holiday miracle, like December 1998,” the judge concluded wistfully, sounding a bit like a plucky heroine from a Dickens novel.
The judge placed all her hope in a bill (S. 6550) that the New York State Senate passed when it reconvened last week. The legislation would raise the paycheck of a Supreme Court Justice from $136,000 to $165,000.
Judges were cheered because the new bill uncouples the judicial pay raise from one for legislators — a sticky issue that has disrupted salary negotiations for years.
But the bill is completely meaningless unless the state Assembly decides to consider the package. Another pay raise bill (S.5313) has languished, untouched, since the Senate passed it in April.
And the Assembly has not even reconvened as the Senate did.
Following the press conference, Dan Weiller, spokesperson for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said, “The Speaker does support pay raises for judges, but I have no further comment on specifics.”
“We’ve been hoping all along that the Assembly would go along,” said Senator John A. DeFrancisco, the Republican Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and sponsor of the most recent bill, in a separate interview.
“There’s literally been no discussion. When I learned we were coming back, I thought it was great opportunity to put the bill out — to give the Assembly a choice between two bills. The Assembly couldn’t hide behind that issue. Now they have a choice.”
Judges have been shut out since April, when the New York Legislature dumped a promised judicial pay raise in the final hours of budget negotiations. It was a familiar snub — legislative bickering killed raises the year before.
Despite continuing to refrain from a litigious call to arms, Kaye on Wednesday enlisted a battalion of adverbs: “Don’t put us off needlessly, wrongly, disdainfully, unfairly, yet again. For us, this has been an incomparably frustrating, angering year.”
A few less patient members of the bench have sued the state government for pay raises, notwithstanding a lack of support from the Office of Court Administration.
After her remarks, Judge Kaye addressed those suits directly, while still demurring to take more dramatic action. “I’ve been following those suits closely. I think we’ve had 25 drafts of lawsuits,” she said. “For one branch of the government to sue the other, that is quite a different matter.”
The judge ended by pointing to a blindfolded statue of Lady Justice, holding the iconic scales in one hand. “Look what she has in her other hand, a sword,” said Kaye, perhaps hinting at legal rumbles still to come.
This holiday season, it seems, the sword remains sheathed.
Comments
Legislators are not solely to blame for the judicial pay raise debacle. For years, Judge Kaye stood back while Jonathan Lippman, an ambitious career bureaucrat, politicized the judiciary and used his control over court system resources for his own political interests. Judicial pay raises were back-burnered in favor of other initiatives designed to advance the Lippman agenda. The fact that Lippman, while serving as the supposed "apolitical" chief administrative judge, was granted a 5 way cross-endorsement for the Supreme Court in 2005 and then appointed as PJ of the 1st Department within 18 months is proof. Everything that he does is rigged. Additionally, the appointment of Lippman's long time inexperienced assistant, Ann Pfau, as his replacement as chief administrative judge is further proof of the Lippman program. Neither one of these career bureaucrats has ever tried a case, yet they were found to be the best qualified for their jobs above hundreds of tenured and distinguished jurists. Their phenomenal rise through the judicial ranks despite their total lack of experience is unprecedented in state judicial history. And it all took place with Judge Kaye's support and consent. In fact, Lippman is considered the front runner to replace Kaye when she retires next year and that's scary.
If judges had any guts, they would tender their resignations en masse. The legislature would be forced to deal with the issue immediately or face the consequences of a collapsed judiciary. It would take years to replace 1300 experienced trial judges and in reality, the state would most likely beg legitimate judges to not resign or return to the bench because the alternative would be anarchy and absolute chaos.
Judges need to step up and take matters into their own hands because their so called leaders have failed them miserably. The legislature has become so used to doing business with one way Jonny Lippman and clueless Kaye that it will take shocking and drastic action to get them to resolve the issue in a timely manner. Otherwise, it might take another 10 years before judges see the raises that they rightfully deserve.
Interestingly, it was reported in the NY Law Journal on October 8, 2007 that Lippman and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are childhood buddies. As we all know, Silver has been standing in the way of judicial pay raises while at the same time, Lippman has made an amazing transformation from career OCA bureaucrat to PJ of the 1st Department and he now stands poised to replace Judge Kaye when she retires next year. Lippman has been well taken care of while the legitimate judges who have made him look good have gotten the shaft. Apparently, the average judge is unimportant to Silver, but a childhood crony in the chief judge's office could be invaluable. And after all, to Lippman, Silver, Kaye and Pfau that's what really matters. Lady Justice wears a blindfold because she can't stand to watch the way a handful of opportunists have pirated the system for their own purposes while pretending that it's in the best interests of us all.
Posted by: Charles T. Compton | December 20, 2007 10:00 AM
It's unfortunate that the raises for the judiciary are caught in the tangled web of Albany politics. It's even more unfortunate that our legislators do not fully realize how this boondoggle is affecting the fair administration of justice.
Our Judges are being made to feel like third class citizens. Poor step children to the legislature and the governor. I am not suggesting that our Judges are not correctly and faithfully carrying out their constitutional duties, they are. But they are doing it in an unhealthy atmosphere that is demeaning to them, demoralizing to them and will surely start to drive out many of them to seek a living wage.
They are only human and we need to insure that the State of New York continues to attract the best and the brightest to it's Judiciary. Surely this is not the way to accomplish that.
Posted by: Helene E. Blank | December 20, 2007 01:08 PM
I totally support this measure. If something is not done our judiciary will be comprised of 2nd string and 3rd string attorneys that will hurt the justice system.
Posted by: Carlos Beato | December 20, 2007 01:20 PM