New York State Executive Chamber | Governor Eliot Spitzer

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GOVERNOR SPITZER PROPOSES SWEEPING COURT REFORMS
Proposes Streamlined Court System; Judicial Selection Reform; Pay Equity for Judges

Governor Eliot Spitzer and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson today announced reforms to modernize the state’s unwieldy court system, significantly limit the influence of money and closed-door politics in the selection of state court judges, and enact a long-overdue salary boost for state judges.

The Governor is proposing constitutional amendments to restructure New York State’s arcane court system and establish a merit-based appointment system for selecting state court judges and justices, and in the interim, statutory change to reform the current selection process for Supreme Court Justices.

“The legislation and constitutional amendments I am proposing today will bring long-needed reform to our court system, which is one of the most convoluted, politicized, outdated and expensive in the nation,” said Governor Spitzer.

Constitutional Amendment to Restructure Court System

The proposed constitutional amendment will significantly increase the efficiency of the state’s court system, save more than $500 million annually in costs, and allow the courts to be more responsive to the needs of litigants.

This comprehensive judicial reform package stems from the work of the Special Commission on the Future of New York State Courts created in 2006 by Chief Judge Judith Kaye. In its February 2007 report, the Commission noted that “New York State has the most archaic and bizarrely convoluted court structure in the country,” which is “not merely confusing but is affirmatively harmful to many thousands of New Yorkers who come into contact” with it each year.

• Key elements of Governor Spitzer’s proposed court restructuring reforms include:
• Consolidating the state’s numerous major trial courts into a simple two-tier structure of a Supreme Court and a state-wide network of District Courts, thus eliminating the multiplicity of cases and parallel proceedings in different courts, and making it easier and more cost effective for litigants to navigate the court system;
• Dividing the newly merged Supreme Court into six divisions ? Family, Probate, Criminal, State Claims, Commercial and General ? to maintain the specialization of judges while ensuring flexibility for judges to move to or hear cases in other divisions. The constitutional amendment also allows for the possibility to change the divisional structure of the Supreme Court should future events dictate doing so;
• Eliminating the constitutional limit on the number of Supreme Court Justices to allow the Supreme Court to keep in step with its caseload in a permanent and practical manner;
• Creating a Fifth Judicial Department of the Appellate Division, without delay, to reduce the overwhelming and unbalanced appellate caseload in the state, and;
• Allowing the Legislature to adjust the number or boundaries of the judicial departments once every ten years to allow for flexibility in the appellate system.

The proposed legislation is projected to save $59 million in the court system’s annual budget and $443 million annually for businesses, municipalities, state agencies and individuals involved with the state’s courts.

Constitutional Amendment on Judicial Selection

Governor Spitzer also proposed a Constitutional amendment to reform the way in which justices of the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and judges of the Court of Claims, Family Court, Surrogate’s Court and County Court are selected. This proposal would establish a system that mirrors the appointment process used to select Court of Appeals judges and to make interim appointments to various trial level courts.

Under this proposal, various statewide and regional judicial nominating commissions would be established. These commissions will evaluate and screen judicial candidates based on their character, qualifications and professional experience, and will be mindful that the court should reasonably represent the diversity of people living in the jurisdiction.

By replacing an electoral system with a commission-based appointing system, the proposed constitutional amendment would take the influence of money out of judicial elections, help ensure that the best qualified candidates are chosen, and help to protect the independence of the judiciary.

This new system for selecting judges would not affect the current systems used to appoint New York City Criminal Court Judges, and to elect judges of the New York City Civil Court, the District Courts in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, the City Courts in each of the sixty-one cities outside of New York City, and Town and Village Justice Courts.

Proposed Interim Legislation to Reform Judicial Selection

The current system for electing Supreme Court Justices -- which has been declared unconstitutional in two federal court decisions -- is so fraught with politics that reform cannot wait for passage of the constitutional amendment that would establish an appointment system. To deal with this, Governor Spitzer proposes legislation to give all judicial candidates an opportunity to compete and to increase voter participation and choice by educating voters about the courts, the election process, and the candidates.

“New Yorkers will be better served by a court system that unplugs money and political deal-making from the process used to select judges,” said Governor Spitzer.

The Governor’s proposal has three main components:

• Candidates for Supreme Court Justice would be required to submit their names for review by Independent Judicial Qualification Commissions, which would be established in each judicial district to evaluate candidates’ qualifications and provide a public list of those candidates they find to be qualified for the office of Supreme Court Justice.
• Candidates seeking a party nomination will still be required to participate in that party’s judicial district designating convention. However, the law would be amended to make conventions more accessible by limiting the number of delegates and extending delegate terms, giving candidates notice of the conventions, and allowing candidates to speak at the conventions. Additionally, candidates for Supreme Court would have alternative means of seeking the party nomination. Specifically, they would be able to access the primary ballot by participating in a party convention and: (1) receiving 50% of the convention delegate vote; (2) receiving 25% of the convention delegate vote and requesting a place on the ballot; or (3) filing a designating petition.
• A Clean Election Judicial Campaign Finance Fund would be created to provide a public financing option for Supreme Court candidates. Judicial elections -- like all elections -- have become increasingly expensive. In many cases, judicial candidates raise money from attorneys and litigants who have appeared or may appear before them. In order to address this perceived conflict of interest while maintaining an open elective system, the Governor proposes a campaign finance program to provide full public financing to qualified Supreme Court candidates for both the primary and general elections. The cost of the program will vary depending on the number of candidates who run and the number of registered voters in the judicial district.

Judicial Salaries

Governor Spitzer also proposes increasing salaries for state judges and justices, as the New York judiciary has gone without a pay increase for more than eight years, longer than the judiciary of any other state or federal court system in the country.

To more fairly compensate New York’s judges and justices for their invaluable public service and to bring judicial salaries into line with the rest of the country, the Governor’s proposal would grant salary increases retroactive to 2005. The increases would make salaries for Supreme Court Justices comparable to salaries received by Federal District Court Judges. As a result, effective April 1, 2005, Supreme Court Justices would receive an annual salary of $162,100, and effective April 1, 2006, Supreme Court Justices would receive an annual salary of $165,200. Salaries of all other judicial officers would be based on a percentage of the salary set for Supreme Court Justices.

The two constitutional amendments proposed by Governor Spitzer would take effect following passage by state lawmakers in two successive legislative sessions and upon final approval by voters. Other provisions in his court reform package must be approved by both houses of the Legislature.

Lieutenant Governor David Paterson said, “For too long the status quo has allowed money and political influence to take precedence over justice. We finally have legislation that will bring integrity and accountability back to our judicial system.”

Chief Judge Judith Kaye hailed the reform proposal, saying, “I hope that this plan by Governor Spitzer heralds success in the decades-long quest to modernize and revitalize our court system, which is so essential to the well-being of all New Yorkers. Passage of these reform proposals will bring our state courts into the 21st century and greatly benefit the citizenry of our state.”

President of the New York State Bar Association, Mark Alcott said, “We commend the Governor for proposing constitutional amendments for court restructuring and merit selection of judges - - positions for which we have long advocated. These reforms will make our court system more efficient and transparent, and will keep partisan politics out of the process by which New York chooses the judges of its major courts. We look forward to working with the Governor, the legislature and interested citizens to bring these reforms to fruition.”

Chair of the Fund and Committee for Modern Courts, Victor Kovner said, “The Governor has offered all New Yorkers a simplified court system, a selection process that will enhance our judiciary, and a great opportunity to increase diversity on the bench. Modern Courts strongly supports the proposed constitutional amendments. The quality of justice in our state will be strengthened and the public will greatly benefit from these reforms.”