Justice on the cheap
Street crime, domestic violence, civil suits, evictions, and all the other problems our justice system deals with haven’t gone away in the pandemic. In fact, amid unprecedented emotional and financial stress, they’re likely to get worse.
That means even more pressure on an already-strained system, including the courts.
So what is New York doing to deal with this? Cutting judges’ jobs.
We understand the reasoning: Times are tough, and there’s no certainty the federal government will come through with the money states like New York need. So rather than have to slash jobs next year, the state’s court system is taking steps now to ensure, at least, some stability.
But it may well be taking actions that will turn out to be unnecessary, and which could harm public safety and criminal and civil justice.
Those cuts include 46 justices of the Supreme Court — the state’s main trial courts — who are past the mandatory retirement age of 70 but can be recertified every two years to stay on the bench up to the age of 76. The system has also instituted a hiring freeze and deferred raises.
Chief Judge Janet Difiore says the steps are needed to help trim $300 million of the court system’s $2.25 billion budget. Losing the judges will save $55 million over two years, she says.
It’s worth recalling that the court system has long been recognized as overburdened. Over the past decade the state has raised judicial salaries to attract and retain judges and has added some judicial slots.
The cuts come even as the question of federal pandemic relief for states remains under negotiation in Washington, D.C. After months of impasse, some lawmakers have crafted a bipartisan proposal that would include help for state and local governments. There’s hope a deal could be struck in conjunction with an overall spending bill due by Saturday; or aid may come in separate legislation early in 2021.
As the chief judge herself has said, shedding jobs by attrition may be less traumatic and disruptive than layoffs, but “there is no question that we will be challenged by having to operate our courts with a reduced complement of court officers, clerks, backoffice staff, interpreters, court reporters, specialists, managers and others.”
So why make such premature cuts? We’re not talking about temporary closures of, say, some state parks, which, much as we love them, aren’t critical to public safety and order. We’re talking about a court system that must be adequately funded and staffed to fulfill its societal mission. A branch of government, not incidentally, that is supposed to be independent of the executive branch, not so ready to help the governor balance the books that it slashes jobs without so much as an argument. Judge Difiore is the chief judge, not just another commissioner or department head serving at the governor’s pleasure.
Much as the lines are blurred in New York, and even more blurred by the extraordinary emergency powers the Legislature granted the governor early in the pandemic, it still takes the legislative branch to make a budget. If and when the time comes for budget cuts, it will be the role of the Legislature, not the governor unilaterally, to decide where those cuts should be.
And that’s when and where Chief Judge Difiore should do what those with law degrees do: Make her case, in this case for a properly funded court system, judges and all.