NYCLA LAUDS ESTABLISHMENT OF JUDICIAL SALARY COMMISSION IN NYS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anita Aboulafia aaboulafia@nycla.org 212-267-6646, ext. 225

 

NYCLA LAUDS ESTABLISHMENT OF JUDICIAL SALARY COMMISSION IN NYS

 

November 30, 2010 – New York, NY – The New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) has released a statement expressing its support of a newly passed law establishing a Judicial Salary Commission in New York State that will set new salary levels for New York’s judiciary once every four years. In praising the legislature, NYCLA President James B. Kobak Jr. said, “NYCLA has long advocated fair compensation for judges and we applaud the action of the Governor in establishing an orderly process for determining the compensation of New York judges as a coordinate but independent branch of State government. Over the years, we have recommended that legislation dealing with judicial compensation in a fair and independent manner divorced from short-term political considerations be passed and filed an amicus brief in Larabee v. Governor challenging inaction on the question of raising judicial salaries to minimally reasonable levels.”

 

NYCLA Statement

NYCLA has long advocated fair compensation for judges and we applaud the action of the Governor in establishing an orderly process for determining the compensation of New York judges as a coordinate but independent branch of State government. Over the years, we have recommended that legislation dealing with judicial compensation in a fair and independent manner divorced from short-term political considerations be passed and filed an amicus brief in Larabee v. Governor challenging inaction on the question of raising judicial salaries to minimally reasonable levels. We are pleased that the Commission will consider such factors as economic climate, inflation rates and compensation levels of other public officials, as well as those in the private sector, in determining whether to adjust jurists’ salaries.

 

Over the past five years, NYCLA’s advocacy has included:

 

NYCLA’s 2005 Resolution supporting judicial pay raises stated, in part: “The pay disparities between federal district judges and judges and justices in the New York State Unified Court System are demoralizing, disrespectful and discouraging, as is the fact that other state employees have received raises while state judges and justices have not.”

 

NYCLA’s Amicus Brief in Larabee v. Governor, filed in November 2008, argued that the failure to raise judicial salaries in New York violated the separation of powers doctrine in the New York State Constitution. On February 23, 2010, the Court of Appeals ruled that “as a matter of law, the State defendants’ failure to consider judicial compensation on the merits violates the Separation of Powers Doctrine.” [emphasis added]

NYCLA looks forward to the work of the commission.

 

The New York County Lawyers’ Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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