Older NY judges cut from the bench can come back, court leaders say
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Queens judges. File photo by Andy Katz
By David Brand
New York’s bench-clearing brawl may have a happy resolution.
The state’s top judge said Wednesday that a cash infusion for the New York court system will enable nearly four dozen older jurists cut loose last year to reapply for their seats on the bench.
“We are now able to spend up to our full appropriation level, which means that our commitments can be fulfilled and those Supreme Court Justices who wish to renew their certification applications are now encouraged and welcome to do so,” said Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.
DiFiore and the Office of Court Administration decided to terminate the careers of 46 judges over 70 in order to slash judicial spending last year. The move ignited a months-long legal and public relations battle waged by judges and court leaders.
Under state law, New York Supreme Court justices 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 prior years, the recertification process was a formality for judges who pass a cognitive exam.
In September 2020, however, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks sent a memo to county administrative judges across the state indicating that they would deny recertification to all but three of the 49 judges who applied. Marks said the decision was fueled by an order from Gov. Cuomo to slash 10 percent of the judicial budget, or $300 million.
The decision affected six Queens Supreme Court judges, more than in any county but the Bronx, where eight judges were terminated. The Eagle was the first publication in the state to report on the affected judges.
The Queens judges who were denied recertification include Civil Term Justices Bernice Siegal, Joseph Esposito and Maureen Healy. On the Criminal Term side, Justice Richard Buchter, Ira Margulis and Daniel Lewis were not recertified after they completed the typically routine process. Another judge from Queens, Appellate Division Justice Sheri Roman, was also let go.
Two judges reached Wednesday said they plan to return to the bench.
“I am going to reapply. I want my part back,” said Civil Court Justice Bernice Siegal, who handled roughly 1,600 guardianship cases. “I want to be able to continue to serve the people of the county of Queens and the state of New York in the fashion that I’ve been able to do in the years that I’ve been a judge.”
Still, the process will still be complicated, Siegal said. Judicial staff members were either terminated or assigned new jobs, and many judges had begun collecting pensions or receiving insurance coverage through Medicare.
“It’s going to be difficult to unravel everything,” she said.
Siegal joined several judges on a pair of lawsuits charging the Office of Court Administration with age discrimination last year. The complaints were ultimately dismissed by an appeals court last month.
Margulis, a former criminal supreme judge, said he is optimistic about returning to court, where he handled Queens’ mental hygiene cases. He was found fit for recertification prior to the OCA Administrative Board’s decision to terminate older judges and said he was not sure if he would have to go through the whole process again.
“If they approve me, I definitely want to serve,” Margulis said. “I’ve said that all along. I enjoy what I’m doing.”
DiFiiore’s announcement Wednesday comes six months after observers questioned why OCA did not wait to see if federal aid would flow to the state from a Democratic-controlled Washington D.C..
Former Queens Administrative Judge Jeremy Weinstein questioned early on why OCA did not wait for the results of the presidential and congressional elections. Democrats, he said, would undoubtedly boost aid to New York.
That’s exactly what happened, helping New York reverse last year’s austerity budget.
Nevertheless, DiFiore’s decision earned praise from some of the sharpest critics of the move to cut judges.
“I am thrilled that Judge DiFiore finally realized the value of our judges and I am thankful for the legislature who provided the funds and indicated that this alleged economic crisis is done,” Queens Civil Supreme Court Justice Carmen Velasquez, president of New York’s Association of Supreme Court Justice.
Velasquez and the judicial organization had fiercely criticized the move to cut judges and helped organize jurists on the lawsuits filed in Suffolk County.
“We welcome back with open arms our judges,” she said.
