Will New York Judges Strike?

Judicial Reports thinks they might. From the article:
As the State Legislature slouched toward adjournment late Thursday with no breakthrough on the issue of pay raises for judges, an infuriated judiciary began to contemplate an escalation in the salary wars.For many that might mean new or expanded litigation. Some are even whispering “strike.”
New York judges haven’t had a raise in 9 years, and they’re getting pretty pissed about it:
“Judges don’t need to hire lobbyists or public relations people, we need to hire an FBI hostage negotiator,” said Montgomery County Family Court Judge Philip V. Cortese in an interview — distilling the judges’ collective belief that the Legislature essentially held salary negotiations captive to other legislative priorities.
Of course, there are some slight problems with a judicial strike, such as the fact that they can’t legally do it:
Just like the transit workers, judges are explicitly prohibited from striking under New York’s labyrinthine Taylor Law — a statute governing labor organizing of state public servants.According to Jerome Lefkowitz, chairman of the Public Employment Relations Board, the law treats judges as “management” whose members are not allowed to unionize. At the same time, it prohibits them from striking.
In other words, judges have even fewer options than transit workers or other public employees. “The law says that managerial employees are excluded from the Taylor Law, except Part 210 which says: ‘Thou shalt not strike,’ ” Lefkowitz explained.
In the stern language of that section, no judge can “cause, instigate, or condone a strike.”
So one judge suggested they all just get really lazy instead:
“Another idea is to review all papers submitted very carefully for any errors — typos, misspellings, matters left out — particularly orders and decrees. No handwritten corrections or having your own secretary retype to fix them up. Return them to attorney for correction, and return them again until they are totally correct. Particularly for any firms with legislators in them.”
That sounds very mature, and bound to work.




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If they believe they are underpaid and could do better elsewhere, they are free to resign.
Hey Merck, maybe some of those folks will then send their writing to you to work on.
um, if judges go on strike, who, exactly, would try them?
No No No. This blog is supposed to be all about whining associates who want more money, not judges who are paid less than the first years.
They're elected. That's some balls: run for office and then refuse to work unless you get paid more. I might have sympathy for them if they weren't hacks, but NY state court judges are the worst.
i was at a dtreet fair in brooklyn (i know, what was i doing off manhattan?) and saw some guy carrying a sign for a woman who was running for surrogates court in september. that struck me as unbelievably strange. how many people vote in an election for surrogates court? 20? let alone the humber of people who are worried about it 3 months in advance? i remember the guy but have no clue who the candidate was.
NY judges to 190!
If judges get paid more than first years, I'll be very upset.
They already act like they are god, why should they make more money than we do? That's the one thing I can take solace in when some pinhead judge doesn't read or understand a brief, I can always say, "at least I make more money than that moron."
1:57 - let's not start a pissing contest about which state's elected judges are the worst.
If the judges really had balls they would resign en masse tomorrow and let the chips fall where they may. Then the His Arrogance, Sir Spitzer, and whining bitching legislature would be shamed into not holding the judges hostage. But the judges shouldn't lower themselves to the level of the 'co-equal' branches by striking illegally or initiating a work-slowdown. Either you protest vigorously while workign properly, or you fucking quit en masse with dignity to make a statement.
Perhaps the fact that N.Y. judges could make more money elswhere explains the current (poor) quality of NY judges?