Comments on: Judges look to grant own raises http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2007/04/09/judges-look-to-grant-own-raises/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:37:27 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Ravi Batra http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2007/04/09/judges-look-to-grant-own-raises/comment-page-1/#comment-13970 Ravi Batra Tue, 10 Apr 2007 05:03:10 +0000 http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2007/04/09/judges-look-to-grant-own-raises/#comment-13970 CHIEF JUDGE JUDITH S. KAYE HONORS HER SACRED OATH TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION BY SERVING NOTICE UPON HER CO-EQUAL BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TO CURE THEIR FOUL BREACH OF THEIR SACRED OATH THAT NEW YORK SHALL HAVE AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY OR FACE A LAWSUIT THAT CONSTITUTIONALLY REPLENISHES JUDICIAL SALARY The noble judiciary, state and federal, elective and appointive, our Founding Fathers decided needed to have a political birth, so as to avoid extreme judicial activism. But they mandated a mechanism for an independent judiciary post-birth, either with life tenure, as with the federal Article III judges, or with long terms, as in New York and a salary that cannot be diminished. The functioning of the judiciary is predicated upon their independence from politics as well as from their co-equal branches of government so that our separation of powers regime may work, and each judge in the appropriate case feels free to say “no� to power without fear or seeking favor. Eight long years without even a cost of living increase has caused the1999 salary to be ravaged by corrosive inflation and to illegally pierce the Constitutional floor that bars salary “diminution;� salary protection is the gatekeeper to judicial independence while barring retribution by the co-equal branches of government when their laws are found unconstitutional. In point of fact, the judiciary deserve a merit-based salary increase well beyond the number sought by the salary-frugal Chief Judge Kaye, dictated as it plainly is by the judges’ caseload shooting skyward. Chief Justice Roberts has called for the federal judges to be paid approximately $225,000 as a floor for judicial independence that life tenure was meant to insure (judges exiting to earn a living wage damages judicial independence). Surely, the cost of living in New York exceeds Ohio and New Mexico, while the talent and industry of our New York judges is renowned nationally! Our Founding Fathers, leaving aside Governor Alfred E. Smith’s assumption of legislative budget power over 75 years ago, mandated that governance be split three-ways so that when it necessarily re-merged to govern, the people’s government would better serve the people. Self-perpetuation was barred by the separated powers regime, but respectful equal co-dependency was mandated. Here, the judiciary’s vital independence has been mugged, year after year for eight long years with a diminution in salary caused by a rising cost of living, sometimes higher than the inflation rate depending upon where the judge served in New York State. Chief Judge Kaye has done everyday New Yorkers proud by standing up and asserting that we will continue to have an impartial and independent judiciary that fashions merit-based justice one case at a time, and in so doing, defended the Constitution and our cherished freedoms delivered everyday in courtrooms across New York State. While no one can argue that those who toil in the executive and legislative branches of government also deserve a pay increase just to regain lost ground, but their similar condition isn’t constitutionally protected with a bar against diminution in salary as in the case of the judiciary, for they can cause gridlock to get what they want and delay budget passage past April 1 as we have experienced in the past. The judiciary’s sole constitutional protection for being independent was that they cannot be punished with a salary decrease, as has occurred here over eight years. This is a constitutional crisis that has left our noble judiciary financially bleeding, an insult that must addressed swiftly and respectfully. The legacy of Chief Judge Kaye is enhanced in history as she valiantly does battle to protect the very honor of the judiciary: its vital independence. Dated: 4/9/07 /s/ Ravi Batra CHIEF JUDGE JUDITH S. KAYE HONORS HER SACRED OATH TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION BY SERVING NOTICE UPON HER CO-EQUAL BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TO CURE THEIR FOUL BREACH OF THEIR SACRED OATH THAT NEW YORK SHALL HAVE AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY OR FACE A LAWSUIT THAT CONSTITUTIONALLY REPLENISHES JUDICIAL SALARY

The noble judiciary, state and federal, elective and appointive, our Founding Fathers decided needed to have a political birth, so as to avoid extreme judicial activism. But they mandated a mechanism for an independent judiciary post-birth, either with life tenure, as with the federal Article III judges, or with long terms, as in New York and a salary that cannot be diminished.

The functioning of the judiciary is predicated upon their independence from politics as well as from their co-equal branches of government so that our separation of powers regime may work, and each judge in the appropriate case feels free to say “no� to power without fear or seeking favor. Eight long years without even a cost of living increase has caused the1999 salary to be ravaged by corrosive inflation and to illegally pierce the Constitutional floor that bars salary “diminution;� salary protection is the gatekeeper to judicial independence while barring retribution by the co-equal branches of government when their laws are found unconstitutional.

In point of fact, the judiciary deserve a merit-based salary increase well beyond the number sought by the salary-frugal Chief Judge Kaye, dictated as it plainly is by the judges’ caseload shooting skyward. Chief Justice Roberts has called for the federal judges to be paid approximately $225,000 as a floor for judicial independence that life tenure was meant to insure (judges exiting to earn a living wage damages judicial independence). Surely, the cost of living in New York exceeds Ohio and New Mexico, while the talent and industry of our New York judges is renowned nationally!

Our Founding Fathers, leaving aside Governor Alfred E. Smith’s assumption of legislative budget power over 75 years ago, mandated that governance be split three-ways so that when it necessarily re-merged to govern, the people’s government would better serve the people. Self-perpetuation was barred by the separated powers regime, but respectful equal co-dependency was mandated. Here, the judiciary’s vital independence has been mugged, year after year for eight long years with a diminution in salary caused by a rising cost of living, sometimes higher than the inflation rate depending upon where the judge served in New York State.

Chief Judge Kaye has done everyday New Yorkers proud by standing up and asserting that we will continue to have an impartial and independent judiciary that fashions merit-based justice one case at a time, and in so doing, defended the Constitution and our cherished freedoms delivered everyday in courtrooms across New York State.

While no one can argue that those who toil in the executive and legislative branches of government also deserve a pay increase just to regain lost ground, but their similar condition isn’t constitutionally protected with a bar against diminution in salary as in the case of the judiciary, for they can cause gridlock to get what they want and delay budget passage past April 1 as we have experienced in the past. The judiciary’s sole constitutional protection for being independent was that they cannot be punished with a salary decrease, as has occurred here over eight years. This is a constitutional crisis that has left our noble judiciary financially bleeding, an insult that must addressed swiftly and respectfully.

The legacy of Chief Judge Kaye is enhanced in history as she valiantly does battle to protect the very honor of the judiciary: its vital independence.

Dated: 4/9/07
/s/
Ravi Batra

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