The wrong time to hike NY judges’ pay

Agony! Misery! Woe! The state Commission on Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation opted not to give state judges a pay hike next year.

That means jurists won’t see a raise before 2024 … unless the Legislature decides to boost their pay, which for decades was the only way it went up. But somehow this has some judges crying a river.

Thing is, New York state is staring at its biggest budget deficits since the 2008 recession, a hole deeper than $6 billion next year alone. And it’s paying pretty generously now: Supreme Court judges (the lowest, trial-court level) draw $210,900 — the same salary as a federal district judge. It’s not Fortune 500 CEO pay, but it’s more than fair, since federal judges are typically higher-powered legal minds.

Yet state Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks declared New York’s magistrates to be “extremely disappointed,” and even claimed the decision “threatens a return” to “dysfunctional and demoralizing periods” for Empire State judges. He appealed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to force the commission to “revisit the issue of judicial salaries next year.”

In reality, lawmakers can hike judges’ pay without going through any commission. But they’ll need to balance the state’s books before even thinking about it.

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