Lawmakers Scold Court Admin for Jilting Assembly Hearing

By BOBBIE BELL

The Office of Court Administration was called on the carpet for refusing to attend a state assembly hearing on Thursday that focused of the impact the 10% budget cuts would have on the court system’s efficiency, especially in the pandemic.

“I am disappointed that OCA has chosen not to participate this morning in the hearing,” said Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, member of the Standing Committee on the Judiciary. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

The OCA turned down the invitation to appear by saying, “We must decline to offer any comment on this matter, as we are now on litigation over the board’s termination.” Five appellate judges recently sued the OCA administrative board over the decision to terminate judges 70 and older, further slowing the judiciary’s effort to make up lost time caused by the pandemic.

Many participants at the hearing were unhappy with OCA’s no-show.

“We have no idea what sort of federal aid we’re gonna get,” said Albany Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo. “This decision for cuts is premature.”

Assemblyman David I. Weprin, representing Northeastern Queens, echoed Palumbo’s point.

“It’s absurd at this point when we don’t know what aid we’ll be getting from Washington,” said Weprin, adding that the election of the new Biden administration throws more uncertainty into the mix.

Chautauqua County Assemblyman Andy Goodell , joked about what the acronym OCA stood for: “I just wanted to verify; OCA stands for Out of Control Court Administrators,” he said.

“This is not a good time to slash the judiciary by 10%,” said Charles C. Merrell, president of the Association
of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Merrell, like other participants, noted that with courts being shut down for a large part of the year, the court’s are swamped with cases.

The courts are overburdened by the pandemic,” said Merrell. “The continued budget cuts to the courts will fall onthe shoulder of the public.”

Weprin said senior judges are the ones who “handle the large caseload.”

Without them, “it’s going to take us three to five years to catch up,” said Dennis Quirk, president of New York State Court Officers Association

“If  layoffs were to occur, and employees are not there, lady justice would not only be blind, but she would be rendered paralyzed,” said Eric Allen, President of the Association of Supreme Court Reporters.