As Symbol Of Court Waste and Corruption, Lippman Must Step Down

Judiciary Promises More Budget Cuts
The New York Law Journal by Joel Stashenko - March 3, 2011

ALBANY, NY - The judiciary promised the cash-strapped state government to make an additional $100 million in budget cuts yesterday—economies that Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman predicted would cost some court employees their jobs. "We are going to need layoffs here," the chief judge said in an interview after announcing that the courts would cut from the $2.7 billion budget proposed in December. "We're not talking about a large system of layoffs of 2,000 people. But whether it will be 25, 50, 150 or 200, I just don't know." Judge Lippman said employees who work in courtrooms or back-office workers who support courtroom functions would be protected from cuts. But he said there are "loads" of court administrators and others in jobs that do not affect courtroom operations whose positions could be sacrificed. Yesterday's comments were the first time the courts have raised the possibility of layoffs. The courts employ about 15,200 non-judicial workers, approximately 1,100 less than three years ago. But the cuts in payroll have been achieved through early retirements coupled with a hiring freeze. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo last month criticized the Judiciary for "not participating" in his efforts to close a budget gap of around $10 billion in the year that begins April 1. Mr. Cuomo is proposing to cut spending by 10 percent and to eliminate about 10,000 positions from the executive agencies he controls (NYLJ, Feb. 2).

Judge Lippman said yesterday the Judiciary's budget was proposed two months before Mr. Cuomo's and that he has intended for weeks to answer Mr. Cuomo's call for cuts in the court budget. The Judiciary's initial budget proposal was higher by $50 million, or 1.7 percent, than in the current fiscal year. Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau argued that the increase was due to negotiated salary and pension benefits over which the court system did not have control (NYLJ, Dec. 2. 2010). Mr. Cuomo's office had no immediate response to Judge Lippman's announcement. "This reduced budget request will have a significant impact on every part of our court system," Judge Lippman said in a statement released by his office yesterday. "Nevertheless, we can and will keep the doors of our courthouses fully open while fostering equal access to justice. Difficult sacrifices will be made, but this is exactly what we should be doing as a good partner in government at a time when the State is facing extraordinary fiscal challenges."

In addition to continued attrition and possible layoffs, Judge Lippman said that the courts would re-examine all non-personal service spending such as aid to town and village courts, the New York State Judicial Institute and legal reference materials. He said in the interview that the entire judicial hearing officer program might have to be scrapped. The program employs some 300 retired judges who issue orders of protection, preside over jury selection in civil trials and otherwise relieve judges of some duties. JHOs are paid $300 per day for their services and the program costs the state about $7 million a year, according to Judge Pfau. The Legislature has created almost no new judgeships in the last decade, and the courts have come to rely on the JHOs to cope with rising caseloads. Judge Lippman also said that he would push for long-term changes in court operations. That would include the renewal of the Judiciary's push to consolidate the state's 11 separate trial courts, a system the chief judge called "archaic and inefficient." Such an initiative, most recently championed in 2007 by a task force appointed by then-Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, would require amendments to the state Constitution, and the Legislature has traditionally shown no interest in moving ahead. But Judge Lippman said he believes the tenor of the times makes court consolidation more attractive than it has been in decades. He based that reaction on the state's bleak fiscal outlook and the fact that Mr. Cuomo has made consolidation of in other areas of government to lower costs and eliminate redundant services a chief priority of his administration. "We can save hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars by having a more efficient [court] structure," the chief judge said in the interview. "Let's look at it fresh because we have to in this economic climate. We can't continue to have such a structurally inefficient model." Various studies of a consolidated court system have placed savings to the state at between $200 million and $500 million a year.

Judge Lippman also pledged to implement mandatory electronic filing for all New York state courts. Finally, he said the Judiciary would forward to the Legislature within 10 days a package of proposals to streamline proceedings in civil, criminal, family and surrogate's courts. Among those ideas are eliminating the requirement to exhaust remedies before courts can enforce an order of support through a contempt proceeding and to elevate the status of part-time city court judges to full-time so they also can serve in Family Court. James Hennerty, deputy director of the Civil Service Employees Association, said yesterday he hopes the court system moves quickly to identify jobs that might be targeted for layoffs. "Obviously, we want to discuss the specifics," Mr. Hennerty said. "We are in a somewhat difficult position. Management has a unilateral right to lay off employees. We cannot stop them. We are hoping that layoffs will not be necessary, or at least are minimal. We don't even like minimal, but we realize that times are difficult." The CSEA represents 5,890 state court employees, many of them in the management or administrative capacities that Judge Lippman said would be targeted. Judge Lippman told reporters after his State of the Judiciary address last month that the Judiciary was willing to make sacrifices that would not affect access to justice or result in curtailment of courthouse hours. He said the budget the Judiciary proposed in December was a starting point in negotiations with the governor and Legislature (NYLJ, Feb. 16). Joel Stashenko can be contacted at jstashenko@alm.com.