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The Truth About Most Judges

Dear Editor:

This is in response to the letter to the editor April 26 asking “could there be perks to the job that are not disclosed to the general public’s knowledge that lure these judges to these $136,700 positions of deprivation?”

I can answer in the affirmative. My ex-husband is Ray Powers, the Law Secretary to Judge Nick Colabella, NYS Supreme Court, White Plains. I’ve been behind the scenes in the Westchester courts for over 20 years.

Judge Kaye (the Chief Judge in NYS) is whining that judges “only” get $136,000 a year conveniently “forgetting” to mention the value of their enormous benefits and all the other money they get for special assignments and committee memberships - their total compensation is closer to $250,000.

Even at $136,700 a year, that salary puts judges in the top 95th percentile of American workers. Plus, upon retirement, judges make a fortune by becoming “of counsel” members of large law firms. It is not uncommon for a retired judge to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year merely by lending his/her name to the letterhead of a firm. It looks impressive to potential clients to show a former judge as a partner in your firm - the judges are “rain-makers” in terms of the amount of billable hours the cache of their names alone will earn.

Judges get six weeks paid vacation (three times what most workers get), eleven paid holidays (one more paid week off than most workers), and some get personal days to boot. In addition, their sick days and vacation time never expire (unlike most workers who are on the use-it-or-lose-it plan). Judges can accumulate all their vacation days and get a huge check for this when they leave - at their current pay rate, not the pay at which the sick days were actually earned. Likewise, they can roll over sick days from year to year and can apply their value (again at current rates) to the cost of their health insurance in retirement. They only pay 10% of the cost of their health insurance, have free dental insurance, get 50% of their orthodontia paid for, and 90% of their prescription costs.

They also get free glasses once a year and free tuition. Judges get free life insurance issued at three times their annual salary (so a minimum of $400,000 coverage completely free). They get pensions that they don’t contribute a dime towards - my ex will retire at a pension of $76,000 a year, almost completely paid for by taxpayers. In addition, judges get “assignment” pay. If a judge is asked to work in another court, he gets travel money. The staff that is reassigned with the judge gets nothing. Ray and Judge Colabella worked in Rockland County for six months. Colabella collected extra money to “compensate” him for his “travel” expenses; Ray got squat.

Judges also get money to be assigned to commissions. The Matrimonial Commission had a budget rumored to be about $3 million (nothing was revealed to the taxpayers, of course.

My FOIL requests for this budget went unanswered from the very people whose job it is to enforce the law!). Judges travel all over the state to hearings, taking their spouses along for the ride. The Westchester hearing was conveniently scheduled to coincide with the “Gates” exhibit in Central Park so the judges showed up in White Plains to spend the weekend in New York City with their spouses at art exhibits and plays, all - nanced by the taxpayers.

Judges get perks when assigned to commissions. Your writer is correct that there’s a reason why lawyers want
to be judges. They’re constantly being “wined and dined” by lawyers groups, bar associations, etc. Judges get several offers a week to fundraisers and dinners, all absolutely free. They pay for almost nothing. Some judges even have cars and drivers. It’s a lot of perks and money for little or no work.

I can attest to the fact that these babies rarely work - their Law Secretaries do almost everything. Judges
work part-time (from about 9:30 to 4:30 with at least an hour for lunch - ever stop by a courthouse at 5:00
p.m.? It’s a ghost town!). Spend a day in court and you’ll quickly see that every time a judge has to make
a ruling, he’ll “take a break”.

That’s code for, “I have no clue what to do here, I have to go back to my office to ask my Law Secretary to look up the law for me”. Don’t believe that it’s the Law Secretary’s who are really the judges? Ask any civil attorney. They all know who to suck up to (they sucked up to me for years, trying to influence my ex). Judges don’t read any of the motion papers submitted to them (the Law Secretaries do that), most don’t write their opinions and decisions (again, the Law Secretaries), and some don’t even sign their own names to their orders! (yup, Law Secretaries again).

There are judges in White Plains who run their real estate businesses from chambers, judges who regularly
fall asleep on the bench, and even a judge who called the blackemployees the “n word” to their faces
(in front of witnesses).

The Justice Department issued a decision last year stating that NYS has the most corrupt judicial election
process in the entire country. What does that mean for our courts? We have judges on the bench who are
beholden to the political Tammany Hall bosses who put them there.

Judge Garson, in Brooklyn was convicted two weeks ago for taking kickbacks and bribes on custody cases. The lawyers and the judge were tape-recorded - the language they use in “closed chambers” while discussing a mother and her children was appalling. I’ve heard this kind of attitude in social situations over the 20 years I spent with these egotisical idiots. They have absolutely zero empathy for any of the litigants before them. Their
attitude is “they must have done something to deserve this”. Unfortunately, anyone can be taken to court in this country whether they deserve it or not - all it takes is one hateful, vindictive individual.

Ask any doctor, contractor, or abused spouse. To become a judge, all you need is to endear yourself to a political party, spend a few years working on campaigns, make the right connections, spend at least $80,000 in
bribes, oops, I mean “campaign con-tributions”, and kiss the right butts.

Knowledge of the law, experience, and empathy are all optional. There are, indeed, some marvelous judges out there. But they are overshadowed by the political, incompetent hacks on the bench. If Judge Kaye truly wants judges to get a raise, I suggest she clean house first.

Catherine Wilson

Hartsdale Business District In Dire Need

Dear Editor:

Stormy torrents of rain from the recent Noreaster has more than soaked the walls and pooled the floors of merchants’ leased commercial space and residential ground level floors in Hartsdale Village, Town of Greenburgh; a damp spirit yet haunts the resurrection of these businesses and homecomings.

Supervisor Paul Feiner has, from the get-go, energetically committed extensive time to mitigate the soggy and sore - nancial circumstances and, most recently, rallied additional available government resources, that of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins, and County Legislator Tom Abinanti to revitalize the East Hartsdale Avenue commercial district.

While residents of the two affected apartment buildings have turned their lights back on and rest again in their own beds, only Eckards Pharmacy among the eleven businesses on the west side of the village commercial strip has reopened their doors to customers.

Through Greenburgh’s internet site, Paul Feiner has informed interested citizens of updates in recovery development and on May 1st sent an invitation, by gblist@cit-e.net site, for an open discussion, presently
scheduled for 8pm on May 15th, at Greenburgh Town Hall.

Marcia Kent