$$ heat on NY courts

Transparency demand

Call it the Janet DiFiore rule. State courts will have to report data showing who gets taxpayerfunded security and chauffeurs or risk losing $10 million in vital funding, according to a budget resolution unveiled by state Senate Democrats Tuesday.

Legislators have expressed outrage in recent months following revelations about perks given to former Court of Appeals Chief Judge DiFiore before — and after — she resigned last summer under a cloud of scandal.

“The court administration over the last decade has done untold damage to the integrity and reputation of our judicial branch,” Deputy State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told The Post Wednesday. “It is critical that they are transparent and held accountable for their actions, and this reporting provision will help make that possible.”

A budget resolution expected to pass the state Senate Thursday will require the courts to provide data showing who receives special perks and what they are costing taxpayers, with a potential $10 million penalty if the courts miss reporting deadlines.

While that amount might be a drop in the bucket considering the multibillion-dollar budget of state courts, it could cost the courts at least what it has spent on questionable perks in recent years.

DiFiore still had court officers assigned as bodyguards and drivers even though she was no longer a public employee, The Post reported in December.

The time commitment grew so large for some officers that their pay soared to roughly $150,000 per year after 15 to 20 hours of overtime per week got factored in, one source noted at the time.

Thin on the details

Court officials have refused to provide many details about the multimillion-dollar arrangement while claiming at a recent budget hearing that DiFiore needed to be protected following threats to her life.

But Law360 reported that one of the threats came from someone who is now dead while a second supposedly dangerous Florida man was stuck behind bars.

Neither the Assembly nor Gov. Hochul have publicly supported the proposal, though the backing of Gianaris could nonetheless get the idea into the state budget. State courts spokesman Lucia Chalfen said: “Judicial threats have escalated over the past few years, not only directed to the former chief judge but to all judges. Anyone who understands how security works knows that the more it’s discussed, the less effective it becomes.”