Lippman's Workers Brace for Pink Slips, Demotions

New York's court workers brace for hundreds of pink slips, demotions
The Journal News by Rebecca Baker  -  May 5, 2011

Hundreds of court employees across the state will get pink slips and demotion notices in less than two weeks, as court officials seek to cut $170 million in the wake of state funding cuts.  The 400 to 500 planned layoffs, plus an unknown number of downgrades, will be part of the largest decrease in court services in nearly 20 years. Courthouses have already been ordered to close a half-hour early, at 4:30 p.m., and more than a dozen court-funded programs have been reduced or suspended to cover the 6.3 percent funding loss. The layoffs, to be announced May 18, have lawyers concerned that fewer court officers, clerks and other staff will slow the wheels of justice even more. "These cuts are going to affect us in ways that we never thought of," said Mayo Bartlett, a criminal defense lawyer in White Plains. "It's going to make everything less efficient."  The first round of pink slips, issued two weeks ago, took effect Wednesday. The state Office of Court Administration, which oversees all court operations, laid off 74 central staff members, saving about $6 million in salaries and benefits. The layoffs will mean fewer people to audit local courts and update databases, among other services. Which other jobs are on the chopping block remain a mystery. OCA will not discuss proposed staff reductions, and an OCA spokesman told The Journal News that the agency would delay releasing the planned layoffs.

The OCA has denied part of a Freedom of Information Law request from the newspaper seeking the layoff plan for the 9th Judicial District, which covers Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties. An agency lawyer said the report was exempt from disclosure because it contained "deliberative, pre-decisional information and subjective opinions and recommendations."  The newspaper plans to appeal.  OCA did release payroll records for the 1,116 court employees in the 9th District, as well as a letter sent April 4 to district administrative judges with guidelines for reducing staff. The newspaper had requested both.  Judge Lawrence Marks, OCA's administrative director, sent each executive a list of staff titles and an amount of money that needed to be cut. He told them to cut the positions, without identifying the employees, and the human resources department would follow civil service rules to determine who to reassign, demote or lay off.  In his memo, Marks directed the judges not to eliminate entire categories of staff, but to cut each category "as evenly as possible." Legal and secretarial employees who were hired by or assigned directly to judges were safe from layoffs.  As a final note, he told the district administrative judges not to discuss their layoff recommendations.  "It is critically important that your workforce reduction plans remain confidential during this period as there will be speculation and anxiety among employees that can negatively impact morale," he wrote.  In a telephone interview, Marks said more than 90 percent of the court's budget is personnel and that that's where a majority of the cuts needed to be. He said the layoffs and demotions would save tens of thousands of dollars and be the bulk of the $170 million reduction. "Until we know exactly who will be laid off, we won't know what the savings are," he said. "It's a very complicated process." A spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association, which represents the broadest cross-section of the more than 15,000 court employees, including law and part clerks, reporters, analysts, interpreters and office assistants, said it's difficult to predict the fallout without knowing where the cuts will fall. "If you're dealing with front-line employees that literally are making the system work day in and day out under more difficult circumstances than the public realized, you're going to have a challenge," Steve Madarasz said. "State cuts affect real services provided by real people in real communities." Lynne S. Hilowitz, a New City lawyer who is president of the Rockland County Bar Association, said cutting court staff will have a big effect on people's access to justice. Longer lines to get into court and to process paperwork in city, county and state courts are among the predicted impacts of fewer court officers and clerks. Village and town courts, whose employees work for the municipality, are not directly affected. To compensate for the cuts, Hilowitz said, the Rockland bar is promoting its referral service, by which people can pay $50 for a half-hour meeting with an attorney to get advice on a potential case. She also said that, as of June 1, lawyers in Rockland will be able to file court documents online, except in matrimonial and surrogate courts. The bar association is also encouraging lawyers to act as moderators to reduce judges' caseloads. "All aspects of government are being cut; the courts are no exception," she said. "People are going to have to adjust." But Bartlett, who represents defendants in the Westchester County Courthouse daily, said the cuts could require defendants and crime victims to make more court appearances, causing them to lose pay or possibly their jobs. "The state is going to end up bearing the costs in a different way," he said. "At the end of the day, it'll be a small cost savings that will cost everyone else."

Additional Facts
Cutting court programs  -  In addition to the hundreds of expected layoffs, New York court officials have slashed or suspended funding for several court-related programs:

• Reducing funding for courthouse child-care centers. Savings: $1 million
• Reducing grants to town and village courts for technology upgrades and improved services. Savings: $2.5 million
• Eliminating 275 of 300 judicial hearing officers, with the remaining 25 working only in family and municipal courts. Savings: $5 million to $6 million
• Cutting small claims court in New York City from four nights to one night a week. Savings: $2 million
• Reassigning staff at the Judicial Institute at Pace Law School in White Plains and directing judges to take training programs online. Savings: To be determined.
• Suspending parent education programs for parents going through divorce. Savings: $750,000.
• Suspending the Lawyers Assistance Trust, which helps attorneys with alcohol and substance-abuse problems. Savings: $500,000      
Source: state Office of Court Administration