OCA welcomes back Supreme Court justices
/
Queens Supreme Court Justices Joseph Esposito and Bernice Siegal will return to the courts this week. Eagle file photo by David Brand/Courtesy of State Court System
By Jacob Kaye
As the courts continue to reopen, facing a backlog of cases built up during the pandemic, the Office of Court Administration has decided to re-certify over 30 judges who were let go last year to cut costs.
In all, 36 New York State Supreme Court justices are expected to return to their chambers this week, according to the OCA. All of the returning judges had their applications for recertification denied in 2020.
Among those returning is Supreme Court Justice Joseph Esposito, who said his com to the bench is more than welcome after his brief stint in retirement.
“I'm looking forward to going back,” Esposito said. “I never knew what retirement was until I got a taste of it and it's not as great as it may seem.”
Esposito was one of six Supreme Court justices in Queens and one of 46 statewide over the age of 70 to have their recertification denied in the fall of 2020. The move allowed the state to cut the judiciary budget by $300 million, or 10 percent, according to the OCA.
State law requires that Supreme Court justices apply for recertification and undergo cognitive exams every two years after turning 70. Judges are required to retire at the age of 76.
New York Supreme Court Justice Bernice Siegal passed her health and cognition exams and was recommended for a new term by the city bar association last year, but her recertification application was also denied by the OCA. Siegal is expected to return to the courts this week.
“Justice Siegal is interested in returning to her regular part to continue serving the litigants who come before her,” said a spokesperson from the Association of Supreme Court Justices of New York State in a statement to the Eagle.
At the time of Seigal’s departure, a group of attorneys, organized by attorney Ariella Gasner, wrote to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore urging her to bring the judge back to the bench to handle the load of guardianship cases inside the courts.
“Guardianship cases are unique, as the presiding Guardianship Judge continues to hear motions on the same case for years,” they wrote in October 2020. “Judge Siegal, by far, is an outstanding Guardianship Judge and one of the best the State of New York has ever seen.”
Gasner, who works at the firm Salem Shor & Saperstein, celebrated the news of Siegal’s impending return Friday.
“We're thrilled,” Gasner said. “She's integral to guardianship, to the judicial community and to the Queens County community. She's a great judge.”
But whether Seigal will return to guardianship cases is still up in the air. The returning judges haven’t been told which court they will preside over for the next two years.
“Their assignments and all the other judges who will be returning haven’t been fully determined as of yet,” said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the OCA.
Gasner hopes that Siegal is able to return to her post.
“The docket that Judge Siegal had was enormous and she heard motions on the same case for years,” she said. “I think she's a phenomenal judge, but coming back specifically to guardianship – I think that’s vital for the Queens County community.”
The judges returning this week will unlikely be able to get to work right away. Besides not having been assigned to a court, they all had to part with their staff when they weren’t re-certified last year.
“My staff was placed elsewhere,” Esposito said. “I need people to help me. From answering the phones, to getting the mail, doing legal research, dealing with the clerks, dealing with the attorneys virtually and the volume, which is going to be absolutely insane.”
And then there’s the pension question. When forced into retirement last year, many judges were left with the option of receiving their pension or waiting it out in the hopes they’d eventually be re-certified.
For those who decided to take the pension during a year marked by economic uncertainty, they’ll be forced to start paying it back once they retire for good.
But retirement may be a while down the road for some of the judges closer to 70 than to 76.
In the final days of the State Senate and Assembly’s legislative session last week, a bill that makes a slight change to the state’s judiciary law passed in both houses. The bill would make it more difficult to deny recertification applications from judges.
The law currently says that judges over 70 “may” be re-certified if they’ve proven that they’re mentally and physically fit and if there is a need for their services. If signed into law by the governor, it will be changed to read that judges “shall” be re-certified if they meet the qualifications.
“We are pleased that the Legislature passed the amendment to the state Judiciary Law to ensure that there will be no repeat of the situation faced last year by 46 senior justices who were denied certification to continuing their service,” said Queens Supreme Court Justice Carmen Velasquez, who also serves as the president of the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York. “With the Legislature having fully funded the judiciary last April after receipt of federal rescue funds, we look forward to the return of all of the justices to their previous assignments.”
