Laid-off judges volunteering their services
The New York Post by Dareh Gregorian - May 30, 2011
Now that's dedication! Dozens of retired judges-turned-court referees who were laid off because of budget cuts are staying on the job for free. The state Office of Court Administration says at least 65 of the 300 judicial hearing officers (JHOs) who were let go earlier this year are staying on as volunteers. "We're very pleased about it," said Judge Lawrence Marks, OCA's administrative director. But he said he was not surprised. "Retired judges enjoy handling cases, and I think there's a real spirit of public service," Marks said. The JHOs have become an invaluable resource for judges around the state, hearing arguments on restraining orders, admissibility of evidence and fees, and helping with jury selection, freeing overburdened jurists to focus more on their cases. The JHOs, mostly judges who were forced to hang up their robes after hitting the mandatory retirement age of 70, had been making $300 a day, far less than the average judicial salary of $140,000 a year. "The problem this year is we don't have money to pay them," Marks said. He credited one of the JHOs, retired Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Stanley Sklar, 79, with inspiring more than 60 of his colleagues, through his own volunteering, to do the same. "I am absolutely delighted that that there are other JHOs that are volunteering," Sklar told the New York Law Journal. "We are performing a service. "The courts are under stress. They are losing or have lost so many clerical personnel. This is just something to help the judges deal with the case loads." dareh.gregorian@nypost.com
Don't think these mutts are doing anything for nothing. They get the real money from making 'decisions' that are very nicely paid. The $300 is chump change. Of course they have to volunteer- they HAVE to get their fat corrupt asses in the seat that can make an 'order.'
ReplyDeleteDuh!
You know that the long-time OCA hacks will somehow turn a seemingly good thing into something bad and corrupt!
ReplyDeleteBeware of Greeks bearing alleged gifts - - nothing is for nothing and there is no free lunch
ReplyDeleteBesides whatever money is being made on the side....I am not surprised in the least.
ReplyDeleteMany JHO's have/had no lives, don't want to go home to their wives whom they ignored much of their career and many still have girlfriends that received jobs for participating in lots of court office sexual activity and judgies will never give up that perk.
Love to know the names to connect to their unfinished court business... as it caught the judges by surprise, this layoff certainly did...what I said is the absolute truth!
I would go back to the NYPD for free if my assignment was to track down drug dealers. It would be different this time. All the City would have to do is to give me only 10% of the cash recoveries. I would settle for 5% of the value of the property I recover, and maybe 2% of rhw wholesale value of the drugs.
ReplyDeleteI would even supply my own car and pay for a sub-machine gun.
Turn over the arrests to the real cops, and no testimony required unless I am paid $1,000.00 a day for court appearances. A bonus of $10,000.00 per conviction.
As to my comment above. I always believed if you gave the cops 10% od rhw money they recovered the drug problem would be non-existent in less than 2 years.
ReplyDelete