FULFILLING PUBLIC DUTIES 
New York’s surging fiscal woes have taken their toll on the court system, The New York Law Journal reports. Yesterday Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau outlined what she called a “vacancy control program” under which no court positions can be filled without the approval of the Office of Court Administration. “We all recognize that the work of the judiciary has reached a new level, with record filings and expanded jurisdiction,” wrote Pfau. “While we are committed to enhancing efficiencies, we recognize that our core duties to the public must be fulfilled.” A link to Pfau’s memo to administrative judges can be found in the story.

RIGHT RECOMPENSE REVIEW 
Pfau and her colleagues might receive help from an unexpected quarter in their pursuit of a judicial pay raise. The Atlantic Legal Foundation has undertaken a study of judicial compensation in New York State. The study will focus on whether the current level of compensation for New York State judges impacts the State's economy and business community. Assuming the study finds harm in the salary stasis, the foundation, whose members and agenda are putatively conservative and/or libertarian, might become a disinterested (and counterintuitive) ally for judges.

NO BAIL FOR YOU, AND YOU 
Southern District Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis was in the news twice yesterday. As reported by The New York Times, Ellis presided over the bail proceeding of John A. Gotti, who amid much fanfare was arrested on federal conspiracy charges linking him to the killings of three men in New York in the 1980s and ’90s. Ellis ordered Gotti held without bail until he is formerly charged in Tampa, Florida, where federal prosecutors are handling the case because some of the Gambino family operations are based there. Also, Ellis ordered Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of acting as a facilitator for Al Qaeda, to be held without bail yesterday on charges that she had tried to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan.

 
FINALLY FREE, KIND OF 
The Times also reports on the status of Kareem Bellamy, a Queens man who spent more than a decade in jail for murder before another man was caught on tape confessing to the crime. In June, Queens Supreme Court Justice Joel Blumenfeld overturned Bellamy’s conviction, but he remains in Shawangunk prison while prosecutors decide whether to try him again. Writes the Times, “Over the last two decades, DNA tests have been a powerful force in setting right many wrongs, but they were not a factor in Mr. Bellamy’s case. In fact the vast majority of crimes do not involve biological evidence, so DNA tests are of no use . . . the sequence of events that brings him back to court this week shows how many pieces must fall into place for most wrongly convicted people to get another meaningful day in court.”

 
CREATING CONTROVERSY WHERE THERE IS NONE 
And The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle questions a decision by Western District Judge David Larimer to impose a gag order following a jury’s May conviction on fraud and kickback charges of a Kodak executive and property appraiser John Nicolo. Last week Larimer restated his ruling barring the media from contacting any members of the jury, saying his order was “clear and succinct and was necessary based on the highly publicized nature of this case, to adequately protect that sanctity of jury deliberations, and to protect jurors from being examined about their deliberative process.” From a Democrat and Chronicle editorial: “The Nicolo verdict was not controversial. While it provoked much coverage, it was hardly so explosive that reporters were running in circles trying to find out what happened in the jury room. This page is not aware of any effort to contact a juror, or of any complaint from a juror that he or she feared being contacted. Since the media can't ask without risking prosecution, no one will ever know.”