Judging the judges

The Legislature is steaming mad at the state courts (specifically the Court of Appeals) for overturning their unconstitutional and illegal gerrymandering last year and they’re also very mad that they are being blamed by Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams (and voters) for botching bail reform as crime fears rise. So they wrongly took it out on Acting Chief Administrative Judge Tamiko Amaker at a budget hearing last week.

They needled Amaker, who is in charge of management, not jurisprudence, about training judges better on the confusing bail laws that they wrote. How about maybe writing some laws that make sense instead?

On the Senate side, the ire also goes to Hochul’s well-qualified nominee for chief judge, Hector LaSalle, in which the chamber is again violating the state Constitution and state law by refusing him a floor vote.

But the judge that they are most angry at is the former chief judge, Janet DiFiore, who wrote the gerrymander decision. She retired while under investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, ending the probe. And here the legislators have a good point that judges shouldn’t be able to shut down a legitimate inquiry by quitting.

So we fully support the new bill just introduced by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Judiciary Committee chairman, ending that loophole DiFiore used. That he has as a cosponsor Mike Gianaris, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, bodes well. The legislation also requires the conduct panel to make public their charges should they level a formal complaint against a judge. The agency did apparently file such an accusatory instrument against DiFiore when she was chief judge, but it remains secret under law.

Former Chief Judge Judith Kaye pushed the same measure 20 years ago, but the judges’ union muscled the Legislature. We heard that a hack Brooklyn judge named Abe Gerges urged Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver to shelve it, which the future federal felon, who would die in prison like Boss Tweed, did.

This year we hope the lawmakers stay angry at the judges and finally pass the bill.