New York Judge Quits

Another LI judge quits amid salary discontent
Newsday bY LUIS PEREZ - luis.perez@newsday.com

Judge Ralph Gazzillo had had enough. After serving eight years as supervising judge in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, the former police sergeant from Brooklyn resigned from the managerial post last week. It was a tough decision, Gazzillo said, reached in part because of his sense of hopelessness with the judicial salary dispute in Albany. "When the air conditioner breaks down, when the elevator breaks down, they call me," Gazzillo, 64, said in his office, where a sign saying "Whining" with a slash through it hangs off his desk. "Just so you are aware of the fact, I don't get nothing extra. I make as much as any other judge here. I just get more headaches." And then there's morale, summed up by Gazzillo this way: "January, below zero."

Gazzillo is not alone. Across Long Island, state judges, elected officials who make $137,000 a year, have grumbled, sometimes loudly, for years. Along with humiliation, they cite the cost of living, increased workloads and, in Suffolk, reduced ranks. "They are definitely hurting, they are definitely sad by the way they have been treated," said Judge H. Patrick Leis III, Suffolk's administrative judge, who called Gazzillo a hard worker. "They feel disrespected and not valued, and they feel -- a bad word for judges -- powerless."

Said Nassau Supreme Court Justice Leonard Austin: "For New York judges, public service is a very high calling, and we are proud to do it. But if New York wants to continue to recruit the best and brightest ... it's got to pay at least a competitive salary." The gripes are almost two decades old. But in recent years, after mirages of a raise, some say frustration has manifested as a work slowdown. In Suffolk, court insiders call it the "black flu." "The robes are black, know what I mean?" said one high-ranking court staffer who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to comment.

Leis and others deny there is a slowdown. There are 12 fewer Suffolk County Court judges than in 2002, Leis said, and the same judges carry 150 cases, as opposed to 50 cases five years ago. Leis said judges are under tremendous pressure from Albany to dispose of cases within six months. Court administration statistics show Suffolk is behind four New York City boroughs, and just ahead of Nassau, in felony and misdemeanor cases brought to a close. Still, judges have discretion in how they schedule their days, and it is not unusual to see the parking lot mostly bare at 3 p.m.

"There is leeway, but I can't just put off arraignments for two weeks," said state Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle, 72, a veteran widely respected for his work ethic, but who also often takes Fridays off. "You can't have a slowdown. It's not right."  Staff writer Ann Givens contributed to this story.