IN BAD FAITH OR BAD TASTE? 
The New York Law Journal analyzes arguments in the Richard Grasso compensation case yesterday before the Court of Appeals, specifically the contention that the Attorney General’s Office was correct to jump into the fray in the first place. Judge Robert S. Smith questioned Solicitor General Barbara D. Underwood, the State’s attorney, over the AG’s involvement, saying, “My question is, granted that the stock exchange would have a cause of action to get the money back, why should the Attorney General have to do that? Why can’t the management of the stock exchange handle it?” While Underwood argued that the exchange’s management structure made it difficult for members to effectively challenge actions taken by the organization’s board, Grasso’s attorney, Gerson A. Zweifach, countered that the board’s inability to prove Grasso acted in bad faith in accepting the compensation package effectively made the AG’s claims invalid. “The stock exchange works up the case, does 50 interviews, does the expert reports, does everything but file the lawsuit, and then hands it off to the Attorney General,” Zweifach said. “So you have, I would suggest, the least likely ward of the State for a parens patriae case.”

AMERICA'S ONLY VETERAN'S TREATMENT COURT
Last Sunday, The U.S.A. Today profiled what is believed to be America’s only veteran’s treatment court. Located in Buffalo, the court is presided over by Buffalo City Court Judge Robert Russell, who started the city’s first drug treatment court in 1995 and mental health treatment court in 2003. “It’s just a fantastic idea, instead of punishing them, honoring them for their service,” C. West Huddleston, CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, a non-profit organization started in 1994 to advocate for drug courts, told the paper.” Unfortunately, the courts are seeing an increase in veterans emerging who have some real specialized needs…Ultimately we’re trying to save people’s lives and transform them back to health.” Today The New York Times weighs in, with an editorial lauding the court and urging other cities to follow its model.

MALTESE & CO. 
The Times also weighs in on a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian group, seeking an injunction against Governor Patterson’s order last month that state agencies recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, even though the practice is outlawed in New York.“The separation-of-powers doctrine prohibits executive agencies and officials — like Paterson — from exceeding, altering or acting in conflict with legislative policy determinations,” lawyers for the Christian group argued in court papers. The suit is backed by five Republican New York lawmakers, including Senator Serphin R. Maltese, who has represented the overwhelmingly Democratic western part of Queens for almost two decades, and whose reelection bid this November has been singled out for challenge by Senate Democrats.

IT WAS A GIFT 
The New York Sun reports on efforts by attorneys for Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, to dismiss the fraud case charging him with stealing millions from his mother after she got Alzheimer’s disease. The motion asks Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice A. Kirke Bartley to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that it's impossible to tell whether or not Astor, out of generosity, gave her son the very money he is alleged to have stolen.

39 MORE FAMILY COURT JUDGES? 
Finally, The Albany Times Union examines a bill pending in the State Legislature that would increase the number of Family Court judges statewide by 39. “Of all jurisdictions, Family Court judges have the heaviest caseload, and their cases involve some of the most difficult and heart-wrenching issues — our children,” Office of Court Administration spokesman David Bookstaver said. “Caseloads, over the years, have risen substantially, and the request for additional Family Court judges was based on that rising caseload.”