CAPITAL REGION Study urges age limits for justices, local court mergers BY KATHY BOWEN Gazette Reporter
A two-year study of local courts in New York has resulted in recommendations for court mergers as well as minimum age and educational requirements for town and village justices. The Special Commission on the Future of New York State Courts was convened by Chief Judge Judith Kaye in 2006. It made earlier suggestions for improvements in the local courts over the past two years, including funding for updated record keeping and security in courtrooms. Attorneys and local justices had little to say about the latest recommendations Wednesday, noting they had yet to read and consider the suggested reforms in detail. In Saratoga County, Ballston Town Justice Cynthia Amrhein is a lawyer who said she has followed Judge Kaye’s action plan for the courts. “I have not seen the latest sug- gestions, but I have read the initial reports of the action plan and I think it’s wonderful,” Amrhein said. “Justice Kaye has worked to get necessary equipment and enhanced security, which has benefited our court significantly.” The state panel’s conclusions include a suggestion that some of the 1,250 local courts be merged to increase the overall efficiency of the system. The report also recommends that justices be at least 25 years old with a minimum two-year degree from an accredited college. The commission concluded that while non-attorney justices should not be abolished, any defendant charged with a misdemeanor should be allowed to “opt out” of having the case heard by a nonattorney. The case would then be heard by an attorney justice under the proposal. In the Fulton County town of Bleecker, Justice Robert Lang is a retired high school principal who said his court is a “one-man show,” and he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. “I don’t have a clerk or security officers. I do everything in the court, including licking the stamps to mail the envelopes,” he said. Lang said he has been on the town bench for 15 years and he schedules court one night a month. “I have some cases that are dealt with on other dates if the [assistant district attorney], defending attorneys and defendants need to meet at another time. I don’t like to take people out of work,” he said. Lang said he doesn’t expect the commission’s report to result in immediate action. “I don’t look at any of those things very closely,” he said. “It’s up to the [state] Legislature to decide what might change in the courts. The legislators will make the decisions for the people who elected them, not a commission that may have an ulterior motive.” Montgomery Court District Attorney James “Jed” Conboy said any changes in the local courts will have little impact on his offi ce. “The case load wouldn’t change for us,” he said. “My assistants will have the same amount of work to do, they might just have to service some courts more often.” Conboy said there are currently 14 local courts in Montgomery County. But in the more populated Saratoga County, Public Defender John Ciulla said he thinks merging some courts is “a very intriguing idea.” Ciulla said towns along the Northway tend to have very busy justice courts while the more rural sections of the county have few cases each month. “I think we have 22 town justice courts with a wide range of caseloads. The town of Edinburg court might have two or three cases on the same night the town of Halfmoon court has 45,” Ciulla said. He said the time his assistants spend on the road and in the court could be cut if some of the smaller courts were merged to meet at one location on the same night. “If Edinburg, Day and Hadley, for example, were all held on the same night at the same place, it would allow my staff and the district attorney’s staff to travel once and meet the needs of everyone,” he said. “Then I could free up that person on my staff to go to Clifton Park or Halfmoon on another night to help out with the high case load there.” Ciulla said he enjoys working with local justice courts and he’s glad the state panel has taken the time to study the status of the courts and to make suggestions for improvements. “On first perusal, I think this report is interesting and it has a lot of good ideas,” he said.
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