Legislature holds public hearing on DiFiore’s constitutional reform proposals

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore has proposed a drastic redesign of the state court system. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese.

By David Brand

The New York State Senate and Assembly will hold a joint public hearing today at 10 a.m. to receive public feedback on a series of constitutional reforms proposed by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.

DiFiore has proposed replacing New York’s 11 separate trial courts with a three-tier system that proponents say will make the court system easier to navigate, increase operational efficiency and reduce costs to litigants. 

The proposal would have to pass both chambers of the state legislature before it would be placed on the ballot as a referendum in a future election, likely in 2021, the Brooklyn Eagle reported. 

“We are long overdue to amend our State Constitution to create a streamlined trial court system, a structure organized in a manner that most effectively and efficiently addresses the modern-day justice needs of New Yorkers,” DiFiore said in a statement in September. 

The Eagle reported on the proposed changes that same month. The details are below:

The New York State Unified Court System consists of over 1,350 judges and more than 15,000 court employees that handle over 3 million cases each year. There are an additional 1,800 judges serving the state’s locally funded town and village Justice Courts.

This proposal, if passed, would merge the Court of Claims into the Supreme Court effective Oct. 1, 2022. The Supreme Court would acquire its jurisdiction and active Supreme Court justices serving at least six months would become Supreme Court justices.

The Supreme Court would also swallow up the County, Family and Surrogate’s Courts and their jurisdictions by Jan. 1, 2025. Their judges would automatically become Supreme Court justices.

The New York City Civil and Criminal Courts, along with the district courts on Long Island and the 61 upstate City Courts would be abolished and replaced with a new Municipal Court. The Municipal Court would be a separate court in New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County and each of the 61 upstate cities. The judges of the abolished courts would automatically become Municipal Court judges.

Housing Court judges, who are currently statutory, quasi-judicial officers appointed by the chief administrator, would also become judges of the Municipal Court.

Chief Administrative Judge Marks will provide testimony at the event, which can be live-streamed at the State Senate website. 

Additional reporting by Rob Abruzzese