New York lawmakers consider $2.41 court system budget bill

New York lawmakers will likely restore court system funding to pre-pandemic levels. Eagle file photo by Andy Katz

By Rachel Vick

New York lawmakers will likely allocate $2.41 billion to the state court system in the upcoming budget, bringing funding back to pre-pandemic levels and leaving the door open for older judges who hope to remain on the bench.

As negotiations continue on a budget due April 1, lawmakers are considering a court system budget bill that would raise funding by 10 percent compared to last year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had directed the Office of Court Administration to slash expenses to meet the reduced budget. To accomplish part of that savings mandate, OCA leaders decided to cut 46 judges over age 70.  

Chief Administrative judge Lawrence Marks said the judicial cuts would save $55 million over two years, but critics said the abrupt move would deplete the bench of experienced jurists as New York contended with a massive case backlog resulting from the COVID pandemic. 

“We understand that the budget crisis is really hard, and hopefully the stimulus coming to the state will help out,” Queens Supreme Court Justice Carmen Velasquez told the Eagle last year. Velasquez is president of the Supreme Court Justices Association of New York. “It’s hard but sometimes you have to step up to the plate.”

Several of the judges sued OCA and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, claiming age discrimination. But an Appeals Court ruled in favor of OCA last month.

Under state law, judges are required to apply for recertification and undergo cognitive exams every two years after turning 70 until they reach a mandatory retirement age of 76. In past years, recertification was a formality for judges in good health.

The decision by OCA meant the termination of six Queens judges: Civil Term Justices Bernice Siegal, Joseph Esposito and Maureen Healy; and Criminal Term Justices Richard Buchter, Ira Margolis and Daniel Lewis.

An additional hiring freeze has also left 730 nonjudicial positions vacant since April 2020, leaving some newly sworn-in judges without the support staff they need, the New York Law Journal reported Monday. 

OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said judicial recertification and staffing “depends [on] the final budgetary and litigation outcome.”