Politics on the Hudson

Ossining’s first female judge has been named by Gov. David Paterson to be a state Supreme Court justice in the lower Hudson Valley, Rebecca Baker reports. Ossining Town Justice Francesca E. Connolly, 51, was chosen to fill a Westchester-based state court seat vacated by Justice Jonathan Lippman, now chief judge of the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

Read the full story here.

   Judith Kaye, New York’s first woman and longest serving chief judge, will deliver her final annual State of the Judiciary report tomorrow in Albany. Kaye is stepping down Dec. 31 because she is “aging out” of the judicial system, which has a mandatory retirement age of 70.

 As leader of the state’s highest court for 15 years, Kaye has ruled on cases that put an end to the death penalty in New York and required the state to pour billions more dollars into the New York City school system. She has been unsuccessful, however, in securing pay increases for the judiciary. Lawmakers, who traditionally align their pay hikes with those of judges, have not taken up the cause. Judges’ pay has not increased since 1999. Judges have filed a lawsuit to force the Legislature into approving raises. The suit is pending.

   Kaye, a native of Sullivan County, speaks at 1 p.m. She will be at New York University to deliver her address, which will be webcast.

   A commission has been charged with vetting potential successors and recommending seven names to Gov. David Paterson by Dec. 1. The governor will announce his pick by mid-January.

(National Archives photo.)

Gannett News Service intern Heather Senison attended a court appearance today by a former state assemblyman from Plattsburgh charged with felonies this week. This is her report:

   A former state assemblyman and Parole Board member from Plattsburgh who was charged with attempting to solicit sex from minors over the Internet returned to jail today after his bail hearing was postponed.  

   It was the second day in a row that the hearing was postponed for Chris Ortloff, 61. He went back to jail after Judge Randolph Treece granted a request for an indefinite delay from Andrew Safranko, Ortloff’s lawyer. Ortloff’s first appearance in federal court was Tuesday, but U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina asked for a postponement because he was waiting for the results of “a series of search warrants,” he said.

   Ortloff was arrested about 5 p.m. Monday in a Colonie motel room, where he had allegedly arranged to meet who he believed to be 11- and 12-year-old sisters. Federal authorities said Ortloff intended to engage in sexual acts at the hotel, located in an Albany suburb. Ortloff had actually been communicating with undercover agents and was found with a video camera and sex-related items in the room, police said.  

   After court was adjourned in Albany Wednesday, Safranko said he withdrew the bail request because he received “new information from the government right at the 11^th hour” Tuesday. He declined to comment on the nature of the information.

  A few new state task forces will begin their work in the coming weeks, joining a number of ongoing ones in Albany:  

  —The Task Force on Flame Retardant Safety holds its first meeting tomorrow. Its task is to review the health risks of the chemical flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether, which is used in electronics, furniture, textiles, and other consumer products to reduce the risk of fire, and decide whether there are safer, effective alternatives to the chemical.

   Studies have found that the chemical is present in food, dust and other substances in the environment, and it has been detected in samples of human serum and breast milk. It has affected neurobehavioral development in some studies in which laboratory animals are exposed to it shortly after birth.

  —Gov. David Paterson announced today that he set up a Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice. The panel will review ways to improve the state’s juvenile justice system, such as creating alternatives to institutional placement, assisting children’s re-entry into the community and providing better treatment in the areas of mental health and substance abuse. 

   The task force—whose first meeting is Sept. 26—will address the disproportionate number of minorities in the system. More than 75 percent of the 1,900 children served are black and Hispanic. The annual cost per child is up to $200,000. Eighty percent of the children in state custody are released and rearrested within three years, according to the governor.

   Other task forces at work in Albany include:

  —The Task Force on Retired Racehorses

  —The Senate Minority Task Force on Domestic Violence

  —The Renewable Energy Task Force

  —The Toxic Mold Task Force.

MOUNT VERNON — A lawsuit filed by supporters of former Mayor Ernest Davis seeking to overturn the November election has been dismissed by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Charles L. Brieant rejected the lawsuit’s allegations that a federal probe of city business intimidated voters in the mayoral election.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of more than a dozen plaintiffs, including Davis, against the U.S. Justice Department, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the state and county boards of election, Mayor Clinton Young and Janet Snyder, the Republican candidate in the general election. It sought $600 million in damages.

Via reporter Desiree Grand. Read more here.

Gov. David Paterson just announced he is hiring Joseph Fisch as New York’s inspector general, a permanent replacement for Kristine Hamann, an appointee of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer who unceremoniously left early this month. (Her last news release and report were issued April 3, and the next release was issued by Acting Inspector General Dennis Martin on April 11.)

Fisch, who is from Larchmont, Westchester County, starts May 12 and will earn $155,200 a year. His appointment does not require Senate confirmation.

Fisch is a state Supreme Court justice in the Bronx, a position he was appointed to in 2003. He was a Court of Claims justice from 1990 until 2003. 

“Judge Fisch is one of New York’s top jurists and I couldn’t be more pleased that a leader of his caliber has decided to take on such a critical watchdog role,” Paterson said in a statement. Read more of this entry »

Gov. David Paterson announced today that the state would provide $1.17 million in grants to help communities improve child safety. The money will enable more thorough investigations and prosecutions of child abuse, neglect and maltreatment, and will expand services for victims.

“These grants will help communities establish the proper child safety infrastructure that will act in the best interest of the children who can’t defend themselves from neglect or abuse,” the governor said in a statement.

Some of the 12 funded projects are:
—$50,000 to Bivona Child Advocacy Center in Monroe County and $47,250 to the Putnam County Department of Social Services to improve multi-disciplinary teams and child advocacy centers.
—$143,110 to the Ulster County Department of Social Services and $150,000 to the Young Women’s Christian Association of Cortland County to help start multi-disciplinary teams and child advocacy centers. (more…)

The U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, reversed a lower-court decision and ruled that New York overstepped its authority in enacting the airline passengers’ bill of rights, which took effect Jan. 1.

The legislation was taken up after a series of reports in 2006 and 2007 that passengers had spent many hours in planes as they waited for takeoff, and they were not provided with food, drink and other services they needed. Under the law, airlines have been required to provide food, drinks, proper ventilation and functioning toilets if a plane has been sitting on an airport tarmac more than three hours. New York was the first state to pass a passengers’ bill of rights.

“Although the goals of the PBR (passengers’ bill of rights) are laudable and the circumstances motivating its enactment deplorable, only the federal government has the authority to enact such a law,” the 2nd Circuit decision said.

The former manager of the West Point basketball arena and the subject of a free speech lawsuit filed by eight anti-war protesters, is scheduled to leave for Afghanistan tomorrow.

The Federal government has notified U.S. Federal Judge Stephen C. Robinson that it would move to stay the free speech case against John Spisso because his National Guard unit “will be deployed to Afghanistan on January 15, 2008, where he will be stationed for at least the next 15 months…and therefore will not be able to participate in his defense.”

The Air Transit Association of America filed an appeal against the state Friday, a day after a federal judge shot down the industry group’s challenge of New York’s airline passengers’ “bill of rights� law. The legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires airlines to provide food, water, proper ventilation and functioning toilets when a plane has been sitting on an airport tarmac for more than three hours.

New York is the first state in the nation to adopt a passengers’ bill of rights. The impetus was a Feb. 14 ice storm that left JetBlue Airways passengers stranded on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport for more than nine hours. Toilets were clogged, there was poor ventilation, and the airline couldn’t accommodate hungry and thirsty passengers. A handful of other states and Congress are considering similar legislation.

The Air Transit Association, which represents the nation’s leading airlines, argued in court this week that the federal Airline Deregulation Act prohibits states from regulating air carriers’ prices, routes and services. The airlines said the law would be costly and require them to hire more staff, purchase additional equipment, burn more fuel and reduce cabin storage space. Violations carry fines of up to $1,000 per passenger.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn dismissed the lawsuit Thursday, ruling that states have power to regulate matters of health and safety. The Airline Deregulation Act was set up to promote competition and foster lower costs and more efficiency among existing and new carriers, Kahn wrote in his ruling.