New York’s top justice sues legislature for judicial pay raises
Newsday reports: NY’s chief judge is suing state over NY judges’ pay.
The complaint and a memorandum in support of Plaintiff’s Application for a prompt trial in Kaye v. Silver has been filed in the New York Supreme Court (a trial court). It is available on Findlaw. The first paragraph and prayer for relief in the complaint are set forth below:
1. In the last 14 years New York State-paid judges unlike virtually every other New York State employee have received only one increase in pay and that increase came almost ten years ago in January 1999. Today no other state or federal judges anywhere in the United States have gone longer without an increase in their compensation - not even cost-of living adjustment. State judges in all 49 of the other states as well as all federal judges have received salary increases since 1999 and many have received increases more than once. In fact, while New York judicial salaries have declined 27 percent in real terms since 1999, state judges everywhere else in the Nation and virtually every other New York State nonjudicial employee have received, on average, cumulative increases of more than 24 percent, ensuring that they would not fall behind the cost of living . . .
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE plaintiffs pray for judgment against defendants as follows
1. As to the first cause of action declaratory judgment pursuant to CPLR 3001 that the Executive and the Legislature violated the independence of the Judiciary and the separation of powers guaranteed by Article VI of the New York State Constitution by failing to provide adequate judicial compensation;
2. As to the second cause of action declaratory judgment pursuant to CPLR 3001 that the Executive and the Legislature have violated Article VI 5a of the New York State Constitution by treating judges in discriminatory fashion permitting judicial compensation to diminish by virtue of inflation while raising the salaries of virtually all other employees of the State ensuring that those State employees unlike judges would not fall behind the cost of living and by taking as hostage to other issues judicial compensation but not the pay of other State officials;
3. As to the third cause of action declaratory judgment pursuant to CPLR 3001 that the Executive and the Legislature have violated the independence of the Judiciary and the Separation of powers guaranteed by Article VI of the New York State Constitution by linking judicial salaries to unrelated issues and thereby refusing to enact into law reforms of judicial compensation which defendants have conceded to be necessary;
4. An order pursuant to CPLR 5011 and 30 17b fixing the salaries for the judges of each State-paid court between date no later than April 2005 and the date judgment is entered in this action as follows the salaries of Justices of the New York State Supreme Court shall be equal to those of United States District Judges pay parity which the Executive and the Legislature have conceded is appropriate and the salaries of all other State-paid judges shall be fixed at amounts reflecting those relationships to the salaries of Justices of the Supreme Court urged by plaintiff Chief Judge in legislative proposals submitted to the Legislature by her office between 2005 and 2008 and separately endorsed by the Executive Senate and Assembly;
5. An order pursuant to CPLR 5011 and 3017b compelling the State timely to remit to the judges of the State-paid courts such amounts as directed by the Court; and
6. Such other and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper together with the costs and disbursements of this action