Paging Mr. Kettle . . .

TOP JUDGES PROPOSE REFORM OF TOWN AND VILLAGE COURTS:

The state's top judges called Tuesday for reforming New York's nearly 1,300 town and village justice courts by requiring recordings of court proceedings, monthly electronic revenue reports to the state comptroller, more legal training for non-lawyer justices and assessments of courtroom security.

"Of the six million new cases filed annually in New York's courts, two million alone are initiated or adjudicated in the justice courts," Chief Judge Judith Kaye said. "These courts must provide the same high standard of justice the public expects and deserves from any court in New York."

Target.com
In a 68-page report that followed review of the system by the Office of Court Administration, Kaye and Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman said $10 million will be added initially to the state Judiciary's 2007-2008 budget request. The report also called for ensuring indigent defendants are assigned lawyers at the earliest possible time and appointing supervising judges to coordinate resources and troubleshoot problems.
...
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi reported in May that money was missing in 11 of 32 justice courts audited from 2003 to 2005. Amounts ranged from $650 to more than $62,000.

Kaye and Lippman's "Action Plan for the Justice Courts" calls on Hevesi's office to help develop financial controls for justice courts with annual audits sent to the Office of Court Administration. Other measures would increase "basic" justice training for non-lawyers from one to seven weeks and identify security practices for town and village courts.

"The town and village justices are part of the Unified Court System and in that sense we have the overall power of oversight in relation to court operations and what transpires in the courtroom," Lippman said. "But clearly this is a collaborative effort. As opposed to the state-funded courts, the town and village courts are creatures of the locality."

Legislative approval is needed for the funding increase, as well as proposals to temporarily assign justices from one locality to another due to death or illness without municipal approvals, the report said. It also calls for changing the law so every municipality with a justice has at least one court clerk, while giving the justices the authority to hire, supervise and fire them.

Let's put Hevesi behind bars where he belongs, then we'll talk.