Commission to rule on raises for judges

Judges from across New York are hoping their appeals for raises are not overruled by the state.
The Judicial Compensation Commission, the committee assigned the task of determining the salaries of New York judges, held its first public hearing on July 20 in Albany.
The commission, which consists of seven members, will make its ruling regarding judicial raises in August, when many legal minds are hopeful justice will be served for judges.
“I have long been a supporter of increasing judicial salaries,” said Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney. “The present situation is an outrage. Hopefully the commission will expeditiously correct the situation.”
Michael A. Simons, the dean of St. John’s University School of Law, echoed the district attorney’s sentiments, while warning of the detrimental effect not providing judges with raises could have on the legal system.
“There’s no question judges have needed a raise for a long time,” said Simons, who is a former member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, a board in charge of recommending judges to the mayor for appointment. “The absence of raises is obviously a personal hardship for judges, but it also creates a risk in undermining the quality of the entire judicial system. I’d have to think the stagnation in judicial salaries over the past decade has had a negative effect on the pool of people who want to become judges.”
Simons referenced the increase in the cost of law school, resulting in greater debt for lawyers, as a possible deterrent for those interested in becoming judges.
Robert Spolzino, a former justice of the Appellate Division Second Department, left the bench two years ago for a more economically rewarding position as a partner at a firm in Manhattan.
“As much as I hated leaving the bench, the economic reality was that I had to get in a position where I was making more money,” said Spolzino, whose appellate jurisdiction included Queens. “When you’re at the top of your career, and you’ve seen your purchasing power erode by 40 percent, your expenses have gone up the past 10 years and you’ve had no raises, you have no choice but to leave.”
Although Spolzino is confident the commission will rule to increase judges’ salaries, he believes the raises must be immediate and appropriate to the cost of living in order to prevent further damage to the justice system.
“I think you’ve dramatically decreased the pool of talented lawyers who look to become judges,” he said. “It won’t be helpful if the commission puts off the salary increase and does it in stages. The message has to be that we’re going to set judges’ salaries at a fair rate, and thereafter, they’ll remain commensurate with that rate in terms of purchasing power.”