While Raises Marinate
Vacation, Expense Boosts for Judges

By REUVEN BLAU

With a judicial pay-raise proposal stuck in the Albany quagmire, the Office of Court Administration has moved to increase jurists' vacation time and educational reimbursements, and to pay up to $5,000 for job-related expenses.

ANNE PFAU: Doing what she can.

"It's certainly not meant in lieu of raises," asserted OCA chief spokesman David Bookstaver. "These are issues that the salary crisis pushed us to look at; most other states have some other form of these benefits that's consistent with what we are doing."

No Raise Since '99

OCA will continue to lobby Governor Spitzer and the State Legislature to increase compensation for the state's 1,300 judges. They have not received a pay hike or a cost-of-living adjustment in eight years.

Judicial raises have been repeatedly stalled by Albany politics. Traditionally, judges' salary hikes have been tied to pay boosts for members of the Legislature and high-level officials of the executive branch of government.

The issue has been further complicated by Governor Spitzer's plan to revamp state campaign finance laws - legislation he has prioritized as a condition for increasing lawmakers' salaries. Nothing appears headed towards any resolution before mid-December, legislators have said.

The "Supplemental Support Fund" was created after OCA officials met with judges who are angry over the prolonged deadlock in Albany. "Based on what you told us, our study and the available resources, we will provide certain quality-of life enhancements for judges," said Chief Administrative Judge Anne Pfau in a letter to jurists.

Costs $7.3M

The complete benefit enhancement plan will cost $7.3 million a year, Mr. Bookstaver said. "That's a tiny fraction of the courts' $2.2-billion budget," he added. "None of this will impact the operational needs of the court."

Judges will be able to receive up to $5,000 for expenses that may include: Bar Association dues, robe purchase and maintenance, buying legal books and mate rials, educational programs, and added medical coverage.

The money is similar to a bonus, because judges already have a dental and eyeglass plan, a court insider said last week.

OCA created a special office to handle all inquires concerning the distribution of the new fund. That office can be reached at 212-428-5558 or by e-mail at judgehelp@nycourts.gov.

Effective January 2008, judges who have served on the bench for more than five years will also receive an additional week of vacation, bringing their total to 25 days of annual leave. "This does not include judicial leave for the Christmas recess, which will continue," Ms. Pfau's letter said.

Seminars Revamped

Next summer, OCA's judicial seminars will also return to the centralized oneweek program format. "After 9/11, because of the enormous budget crunch, we decentralized them," Mr. Bookstaver remarked.

Judges, however, prefer meeting each other at the conferences and requested that the original arrangement be reinstated. "There's more collegiality, better learning, and a better cross-section of judges," Mr. Bookstaver said, noting the program will cost $1 million a year.

Judges will also be reimbursed for an additional third night when they attend the judicial association yearly conferences, OCA said.

Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye has repeatedly decried the low pay for judges, but she declined to back a lawsuit recently filed by four jurists charging that the lack of an increase in compensation is a violation of their constitutional rights. In June, Ms. Kaye said that OCA was "preparing full-scale litigation" against the state if the Legislature failed to increase judicial pay. But she has since backed off, telling judges that talks with the State Legislature appear to be finally moving forward.