The Judiciary

June 3, 2008

New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye to Receive Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence

Judith S. Kaye, chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, has been selected as the recipient of the Fifth Annual Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence. Chief Judge Kaye was chosen by a three-member panel: JudgeEllen Rosenblum, Oregon Court of Appeals; Judge Lorenzo Arredondo, Lake Circuit Court for Indiana; and Chief Justice Pascal Calogero, Jr., Louisiana Supreme Court. The Award will be presented later this year.

Press Release: New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye to Receive Fifth Annual Dwight Opperman Award

May 19, 2008

New York Senate Bill S7995 Would Limit Office Of Court Administration (OCA) Use of Court Recording Devices

by David Badertscher

“Legislation being carried by the chairman of the [New York] state Senate’s Judiciary Committee would set limits on the Office of Court Administration’s now unfettered authority to allow the mechanical recording of proceedings in any state courts in New York….”

To see complete article, New York Senate Bill S7995 and Sponsor’s Memorandum Click here

From: Stashenko, Joel. “Senate Bill Would Limit OCA’s Use of Court Recording Devices,” New York Law Journal. (May 19, 2008). p. 1,8.

May 2, 2008

Unusual Judges

by David Badertscher

The following was first posted on the InChambers weblog compiled by boppanny@aol.com, May 2008.

[From Mark Levin’s book, “Men in Black”]

“Robert C. Grier (U.S. Supreme Court Justice). Appointed by James Polk in 1846, Grier suffered paralysis in 1867 and thereafter began a slow mental decline. Grier’s case is most troubling because he was the swing vote in one of the more important cases of his era, Hepburn v. Griswold, which struck down the law allowing the federal government to print money. “Grier’s demonstration of mental incapacity during the conference discussion was such that every one of his colleagues acknowledged that action had to be taken.”

May 1, 2008

New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye Writes Governor to Deny Slowdown of Judges

by David Badertscher

From: Vesselin, Mitev and Daniel Wise. ” Kaye Writes Governor To Deny Work ‘Slowdown’ “, New York Law Journal, April 30, 2008. p. 1,6.

“Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye wrote Governor David A. Paterson yesterday to assure him that reports of judicial “slowdown” were ‘without basis.’ ”

“In addition, the court system’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion Monday determining that Chief Judge Kaye’s recent lawsuit to compel an increase in judicial salaries does not require judges to recuse themselves, but they may do so as a matter of individual conscience….”

April 29, 2008

NY Legislature: Bill would Add 39 Judges to Family Court Bench

by David Badertscher

An article in the April 29, 2008 New York Law Journal ( http://www.nylj.com)reports that the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote tomorrow (April 30) on the bill A10615/S7585 which would create 14 additional family court judgeships in New York City and 25 elsewhere in the state of New York. Click on the links below to see the text of the bill and its sponsoring memorandum:

Text of Bill A10615/S7587 Additional Family Court Judges

Sponsors Memorandum for Bill A10615/S7587 Additional Family Court Judges

April 21, 2008

Faith in the Courts: A Model for How Court Systems Can Work with Religious Communities

by David Badertscher

BY: Hon. Juanita Bing Newton, Matthew Weiner, and Moise Waltner*

p.28 – 32 of Judges Journal Vol. 46 No. 4 (Fall 2007).

This article describes how Judge Juanita Bing Newton and her staff in New York have successfully collaborated with the Interfaith Center of New York to reach out to more than 600 religious leaders in New York City to enhance the religious communities’ understanding of the legal system and to help court system personnel understand the diverse communities they serve.

April 10, 2008

Kaye v. Silver : Chief Judge of the State of New York Sues for Increase in Judicial Pay for all State Judges

by David Badertscher

N.Y.’s Top Judge Sues Over Judicial Pay

KAYE V. SILVER

“N.Y. Supreme Court, N.Y. County, April 10, 2008) – Chief Court of Appeals Judge Judith Kaye sued New York officials for an increase in judicial pay for all state judges, arguing that, “while New York judicial salaries have declined 27 percent in real terms since 1999,” every other state employee has gotten ‘ cumulative increases of more than 24 percent’.”.