Wooden Gavel
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New York State Judges Show Little Judicial Restraint when Suing for Pay Raises
Now is Not the Right Time to Raise the Pay of New York State's Judges
I'm having a hard time working up any sympathy for Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, her cohorts on New York state's highest court, or other judges in New York state who are whining because they haven't had a raise in 10 years. The lowest paid full-time city court judge in New York state still makes $108,000 per year, while Judge Judy makes $156,000.According to an Associated Press article in The Daily Gazette on April 2, "Compensation for New York's 1,250 state-level judges now ranks 49th among states, which Kaye said is "shameful considering the enormity and complexity of their case dockets." What I think is shameful is that several judges have already sued the state of New York, meaning you and me, and Judge Judy is preparing to sue New York state if the Legislature doesn't approve judicial raises.
What is also shameful is that Bernard Nussbaum, a litigation partner in the firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and former counsel in the Clinton White House, is going to handle the lawsuit for these wealthy clients for free. Meanwhile, defendants often have to appear in courts presided over by these same judges with inadequate defense because they cannot afford a good lawyer.It's also shameful to hear judges whining about how little they make, when they make two to three times the median New York state family income. When you combine their incomes with that of their spouses, the gap between their income and the typical family's income in New York becomes a chasm. Judge Judy's individual income is almost four times more than the typical family income here in Montgomery County.
Apparently, some judges are upset because they have had to borrow money to send their kids to college. So what? Join the human race. The only difference is they are borrowing money to send their kids to Ivy League and other prestigious colleges, while the rest of us are borrowing money to send our kids to state schools and community colleges.
The important question isn't how much our judges are making in comparison to other states, or how long it has been since they have had a raise. The real question is just how much money does a person need?
- New York State's judges are already adequately compensated.
- It's the wrong time to give judges pay raises, considering the current economic outlook in New York.
- Judges who feel they don't get paid enough should resign and work in the private sector.
Comments
annon
(Guest)
(Guest)
09/12/2009
Let Barbara Dolan raise a chronically ill child on %2000 a month, in Dutchess County.
Why doesn't she do what her husband recommends to all 60 year old women -GET A JOB (that pays).
sandra andreas
(Guest)
(Guest)
06/12/2008
How about Judge's recusing off cases where the legislator is a member of the State Senate? How about Judge's refusing to require the monied spouse to pay child care expenses or maintenance? How about Judges working a full-day and caring about the lives of those they devastate? How about canceling maintenance paid to a non-monied spouse? These Judges by and large are evil, pompous, and corrupt human beings. The only ones who seem to get justice are their pets and the connected ones. Let us say "no" to a pay raise and say "yes" to a fair system that cares for children. Please see what someone wrote about Judge Robert A Lifson on another site. He is running for re-election in Suffolk County, New York and appointed to the Appellate Division. According to the source of the site, he has equate sexual abuse of children to false reports of sex abuse by one parent against the other. That shows you what these Judges think of children.
I wil never understand those gigantic houses. They are sprouting up all over the place here. The lumber is imported from overseas. They use more resources than ten third world families use to build a house, and they use enormous amounts of resources to heat and cool them.
Greed is destroying America.
Martha Phillips
(Guest)
(Guest)
04/08/2008
Right on. The main reason we are in a recession now is because greed has become our way of life. We are always looking for bigger and "better." We now have houses that have twice the square footage of the 1960's yet we have half the number of people living in them.
What happened to being a public servant for altruistic reasons.
I didn't know any of this....some of us would kill to make a buck!
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