State judges sue governor, lawmakers over salary raises

[flashl]

Source: Democratic Chronicle

ALBANY — Setting up an unprecedented legal showdown among the branches of the state government, the state's chief judge Thursday sued Gov. David Paterson and the leaders of the Legislature to try to force them to raise judges' salaries, which have been frozen since 1999.

The lawsuit had been threatened by Chief Judge Judith Kaye for years, as New York judges haven't had a pay raise in 10 years while those of judges in the rest of the country and other state employees increased.

State Supreme Court justices, the most numerous category among about 1,200 state court judges, make $136,700 a year — a figure that hasn't changed since 1999. The judges want a raise to $169,300, retroactive to April 1, 2005. That would cost taxpayers about $145 million.

Also named in the suit were Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County.

...

All sides acknowledge that the judges' pay has been caught up in a dispute about lawmakers' salaries, which have traditionally been tied to that of judges. Both houses have been reluctant to act on their own pay for fear of voter backlash.

Democratic Chronicle

Read more: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/NEWS01/804110381/1003

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IF the judges win, perhaps 'we' can duplicate?