VILLAGE COURTS FADING AWAY:

The writing in the paper is now the writing on the wall for village officials in Cato.

The village will dissolve its court and take care of justice through the towns in April. While the court has been cost effective up to this point, Mayor Carl Lincoln believes the move will save money in coming years.

A series of articles in the New York Times last September exposed inadequacies in many of the state's 1,300 town and village justice courts. It touched off an increase in scrutiny and movement toward reform Lincoln feels the village won't be able to afford.

“Right now we're just about breaking even,” he said.

The state Office of Court Administration is pushing for major upgrades to justice courts that would be difficult for the village to accommodate without funding. The court, held twice a month in the village's meeting room, doesn't even support a clerk.

Though no mandates exist, a recent state Unified Court System report includes strong recommendations for justice courts to provide uniformed security officers, adequate space to separate litigants and court personnel and magnetometers.

“It's an ideal time to opt out,” Lincoln said.

But not everywhere: VILLAGE OF MONROE PROCEEDS WITH PLAN TO SEPARATE COURTS:

Looks like the Village of Monroe is going to have its own justice court for the first time in 23 years. The village is moving forward with plans to yank its ticket-and-petty-crime business from the Town of Monroe and re-establish the court it abandoned in 1984, when it merged with the town’s. The split could come as early as June 1.

Mayor John Karl III started talking about a separation before taking office, then pushed ahead last year when he learned the town had shortchanged the village at least $200,000 in fine revenue over several years. The town claims it accidentally withheld the funds because of a computer error.

Karl met last week with District Attorney Frank Phillips and Monroe police Chief Dominic Giudice to discuss resurrecting the village court. He said Friday he’ll put roughly $75,000 in the next budget – which takes effect June 1 – for judges, clerks, computers and office supplies.

The state is supposed to reimburse the village for whatever funds the town improperly kept. Exactly how much that totals remains in dispute.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times is on the warpath again today, following up on an earlier three-part expose of the justice court system with another lengthy article about the sometimes erratic flow of money through the system: MONEY TRAIL OFTEN MURKY IN SMALL-TOWN COURTS. Someone sure has a bee in his bonnet. Free registration is required to read the article.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

COURT: RECONSIDER SALARY OF JUSTICE IN DAVENPORT

The Davenport Town Board will have to reconsider a justice’s salary after a state Supreme Court Ruling on Thursday.

The Appellate Division Third Judicial Department issued a five-page ruling saying that the town setting a $500 salary for Justice Britt Kelch in 2004 was a violation of the U.S. and New York constitutions.

The Davenport town board voted after the election in November 2004 that the salary of the then-newly elected Kelch be set. That same year, the board raised the salary of the other justice, Anthony "Tony" Moore, to $7,500. Previously, the two salaries were $5,000 each. The second position was abolished in 2006 after a voter referendum. The salary for 2007 is $5,000.

The court ordered the town to "reconsider" the salary and set an appropriate amount retroactive to Kelch’s first day in office.

The court wrote in the decision that the issues involved the separation of powers of the branches of government.

Judicial interference in this legislative action is necessary, the court said, because the town board "violated public policy and the constitutional principles of separation of powers in setting petitioner’s exceedingly meager salary."

The full text of the decision in Matter of Kelch v. Town Board of the Town of Davenport is available at the link in .pdf format.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's another article about the Judge Kaye's Action Plan for reforming the justice courts: STATE'S CHIEF JUDGE CALLS FOR REVAMPING OF LOCAL COURT SYSTEM:

Town and village courts across New York are sorely lacking in training, financial controls and technology — three in four don't even record their proceedings — according to a report issued Tuesday by the state's chief judge, who called for a comprehensive overhaul of local justice.

The nearly 1,300 local courts handle roughly two-thirds of the legal matters in New York. Yet in many ways they are cut off from the rest of the legal system, Chief Judge Judith Kaye said. Kaye, along with the state's chief administrative judge, Jonathan Lippman, proposed an overhaul that includes:

* Buying digital recorders for every town and justice court. Only about 25 percent of local courts record their proceedings, leaving little in the way of official transcripts or evidence if a case goes on to appeal. “When they need a record for appeal, they have to do a re-creation of what the judge (and other parties) said,” Lippman said, “and often it's not good enough.”

* Requiring local judges to undergo seven weeks training rather than the current two. About 72 percent of the roughly 2,200 town and village justices in the state are not lawyers, and some are more knowledgeable in the law than others.

* Wiring local courts, through updated computers and software, into the state court system. Kaye and Lippman said this would improve case tracking as well as give local justices access to court manuals, legal databases and the state judiciary e-mail system.

* Mandating that local courts electronically transmit their monthly revenue reports to the state comptroller's office. Last May, the comptroller's office released an audit revealing that many local courts don't keep accurate records of bail and restitution, don't regularly balance their books and even fail to issue receipts at times.

The plan would cost about $10 million to implement next year, the judges said. About half would be for security upgrades. Then, an additional $20 million would be needed the following two years.

The full 74-page report can be read here (.pdf).

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TOWN OF ULSTER TAKES OVER TICKET PROSECUTIONS:

Local taxpayers will foot the bill for two town attorneys to prosecute traffic cases after state police instituted a policy prohibiting troopers from plea-bargaining infractions.

Supervisor Nick Woerner said the $20,000 a year it will likely cost to assign Town Attorney Andrew Zweben and Special Town Attorney Kevin Bryant to prosecute the cases will be offset by savings the town will realize through plea-bargaining to avoid trials.

In most smaller municipalities, the arresting officers also serve as prosecutor in traffic court. As of Sept. 1, the state police began prohibiting troopers from bargaining with motorists for reduced charges on tickets they issue. That means the previously common practice of pre-court negotiations between troopers and ticketed motorists has ended.

During those sessions, a trooper could offer to reduce a speeding ticket, for example, to a charge of failure to obey a traffic device.

While the policy is seen as saving the state police money, it has sparked numerous disruptions of justice courts, forcing defendants, troopers, and justices to go to trial, Woerner said.

The supervisor said the town would generate more revenue if a motorist pleads guilty to a lesser charge, because a bigger share of the penalty goes to town coffers and not the state.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the Town of Woodbury: JUDGES OBJECT TO TRAFFIC-TICKET PLEA BARGAIN BAN:

Dave Levinson and Ray Shoemaker are about as different as two people can be without coming from different planets.

They're both judges, and that's where the comparisons end. Levinson is a Brooklyn-born Democrat and a partner in a locally prominent law firm. Shoemaker is a Republican, a retired Middletown cop, a guy who has never been to law school.

But they've found common ground on a controversial issue: Both judges have a beef with the new state police policy that bans troopers from plea-bargaining traffic tickets. And now, Levinson is speaking up to defend Shoemaker's decision to dismiss 70 tickets on Sept. 8, in spite of state guidelines that frown on judges being outspoken anywhere besides in their own courtrooms.

Levinson sees people bewildered by what he calls "patch-sleeve justice."

Here's what he means: More than one police agency writes tickets in the Town of Woodbury. So if Driver A gets a speeding ticket from a state trooper, Driver A has two choices: Plead guilty, pay a fine and wait for a rate-hike notice from their insurance carrier. Or roll the dice and go to trial.

But if Driver B gets a speeding ticket in Woodbury, and Driver B's ticket was written by someone wearing the uniform patch of the Woodbury town police, the state park police or an Orange County sheriff's deputy, Driver B has more options than Driver A. Driver B has a shot at plea-bargaining for a ticket that won't put points on his license or jack up his insurance rates.

"Patch-sleeve justice — that's what it is," Levinson said this week. "We're not treating people equally."

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SPEEDING LAW CHANGE HURT TOWN'S COFFERS:

The practice of speeding through Slate Hill on Interstate 84 is alive and well. But traffic cases are crawling these days through Wawayanda Town Court, leaving a drop in revenue from traffic tickets, to the tune of $17,000 last month.

The reason: state police put into effect a new policy in September banning troopers from negotiating plea bargains when they prosecute tickets.

For towns and villages like Wawayanda that have troopers ticketing drivers within their boundaries, it was as if someone hit the brakes on the train of cases rolling through traffic court.

Instead of ending in plea bargains, many more cases are now proceeding to trial, which is far more time-consuming.

Before the new policy, the town would handle 40 to 50 cases a month, said Wawayanda Town Justice Peter Gromacki, a former commander of state police Troop F out of Middletown. Now, he said, the court only handles 20 to 30 a month. "We are going to have a terrible backlog," he said.

With a revenue loss from August to September of $17,362, Wawayanda's Town Board decided recently to hire an attorney to prosecute traffic tickets.

"We can't afford to lose this kind of money," said Supervisor John Razzano. Even after the town pays an attorney fee of up to $125 per hour, it will save money, he said.

"It takes a bite out of town coffers," he said. "Without a prosecutor, all the town will get is $15 a case."
...
Wawayanda was likely only going to keep a portion of the revenue lost in September. But it was enough to warrant concern in a town that holds the dubious distinction of a state police speeding-arrest record. Ray Layton was ticketed on I-84 in 1988 for going 123 mph, the highest speeding arrest recorded based on aerial observation.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PLEA BARGAIN BAN BURDENS SMALL COURTS:

IT'S BEEN only 27 days since state troopers, under an edict from New York State Police brass in Albany, stopped plea-bargaining traffic tickets, but already the effects are being felt in courtrooms across the Hudson Valley.

In Greene County, the only area county where the plea-bargaining task has been assumed by the District Attorney's Office, prosecutors are finding themselves in court far longer than in the past and the wheels of justice are turning slowly.

In Dutchess and Ulster counties, where prosecutors have declined to fill the void created by the new state police policy, more traffic cases are going to trial and resolutions coming slowly.

"I already have trials scheduled out until March," said town of Clinton Justice Barbara Seelbach.

Seelbach, who took office in January and presides over court in a town that includes several miles of the Taconic State Parkway, said she didn't preside over a single traffic trial during her first eight months in office.

"Now it's a whole different ballgame," she said. "I'm wondering how we're going to handle this, calendar-wise."

Saugerties Town Justice Robert Francello said his court also has had a marked increase in the number of traffic cases going to trial.

"On one night in August, I had 57 trials (scheduled). Zero went to trial," he said. "Now, in September ... we ran out of time and had to reschedule."

Under a policy that went into effect Sept. 1, state troopers no longer are allowed to offer plea bargains to motorists issued traffic tickets. The state Legislature in August passed legislation prohibiting the state police from instituting the policy, but Gov. George Pataki vetoed that bill and the policy was allowed to take effect.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times is in the bully pulpit: A LARGE, HIDDEN WORLD OF JUDICIAL INEPTITUDE:

These are New York’s town and village courts, or justice courts, as the 1,250 of them are widely known. In the public imagination, they are quaint holdovers from a bygone era, handling nothing weightier than traffic tickets and small claims. They get a roll of the eyes from lawyers who amuse one another with tales of incompetent small-town justices.
...
It is impossible to say just how many of those justices are ill-informed or abusive. Officially a part of the state court system, yet financed by the towns and villages, the justice courts are essentially unsupervised by either. State court officials know little about the justices, and cannot reliably say how many cases they handle or how many are appealed. Even the agency charged with disciplining them, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, is not equipped to fully police their vast numbers.

But The Times reviewed public documents dating back decades and, unannounced, visited courts in every part of the state. It examined records of closed disciplinary hearings. It tracked down defendants, and interviewed prosecutors and defense lawyers, plaintiffs and bystanders.

The examination found overwhelming evidence that decade after decade and up to this day, people have often been denied fundamental legal rights. Defendants have been jailed illegally. Others have been subjected to racial and sexual bigotry so explicit it seems to come from some other place and time. People have been denied the right to a trial, an impartial judge and the presumption of innocence.

Free registration is required to read the entire article.

UPDATE: And here's Part 2.

UPDATE: And Part 3.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ESSEX COUNTY DA ASKS FOR HELP WITH TICKETS:

Gov. George Pataki's veto of a bill that would have allowed State Police to continue to plea-bargain traffic tickets is going to cost Essex County a lot of money.

Although some counties were already prosecuting and plea-bargaining traffic tickets, Essex County wasn't one of them.

County District Attorney Julie Garcia said Monday her office needs an additional full-time assistant DA and a full-time secretary to handle the workload that's coming when State Police end ticket plea bargaining.
...
Prosecuting violations isn't itself a big burden to assume, Garcia said, but many towns have sections on the heavily patrolled Adirondack Northway.

"These Northway towns have thousands of tickets written. We're going to have to hire someone to help us prosecute all these traffic tickets."

The cost of another assistant DA is estimated to be $55,000 to $70,000, plus benefits.

Local justices are concerned about what happens now, she said.
...
Supervisor Ronald Jackson (R-Essex) has questioned what the consequences would be if the county didn't plea-bargain tickets.

"We could decline to prosecute the ticket, period, but we don't really want to do that," Garcia said.

"If we say we're not going to plea-bargain a speeding ticket, all that fine money goes to New York state."

Not plea bargaining would also mean more local justice court trials, further impeding the system.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

VETO ENDS SPEEDING TICKETS PLEAS:

Gov. George Pataki used his veto pen Thursday to end the practice of troopers plea-bargaining speeding tickets with motorists. So be forewarned the next time you speed on the Thruway.

Drivers typically have used the old system to avoid getting "points" on their licenses, which can result in loss of driving privileges and higher insurance rates. Prosecutors used the system to move cases through the courts.

Pataki scrapped a bill that would have blocked rules the State Police adopted to end such plea bargaining.

Rockland County District Attorney Michael Bongiorno predicted "a big mess" as a result of the veto. He said his office would have to handle an extra 15,000 cases a year.

Troopers wrote 873,000 tickets last year, 354,000 for speeding, according to the State Police. That's 43 percent of all speeding tickets in the state.

Pataki, in his veto message, said he believes the responsibility for prosecuting all crimes, including traffic crimes, rests with local district attorneys.
...
The head of the state Association of Towns criticized Pataki's veto. "The towns are going to have to provide prosecutors, and the cost of that has to be met," said Jeffrey Haber, the group's executive director.

PROSECUTORS SHOW UP TO HANDLE TRAFFIC TICKETS IN WALKILL TOWN COURT:

Orange County prosecutors today showed up in force in Wallkill Town Court to pinch-hit for state troopers who are now banned from plea bargaining traffic tickets.

The new policy prompted Town Justice Ray Shoemaker last week to dismiss about 70 tickets outright. Prosecutors today continued the no plea bargain policy, but the trials went on without a hitch.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WALKILL JUSTICE TOSSES 70 TICKETS:

Town Justice Ray Shoemaker yesterday dismissed about 70 traffic tickets written by troopers, a move that could land him in a higher court — as a defendant.

Both the chief lawyer for the state police and Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips think Shoemaker's wrong.

"Step one is to contact the judge, to try to explain to him that his decision is in error," Phillips said yesterday. "Our next step would be either an appeal or an Article 78 proceeding (a civil suit) to prohibit him from doing this in the future. In my opinion, he's clearly acting in excess of his authority."

Shoemaker's move was the most dramatic response so far to a new state police policy that bans troopers from reaching plea bargains when they prosecute traffic infractions. Some judges have postponed trials because Gov. George Pataki is considering whether to sign a bill that would return plea-bargaining power to troopers and avert fears of late nights in court caused by an abundance of trials.

Yesterday, troopers who showed up for trials in Wallkill Town Court told their superiors that Shoemaker dismissed the tickets after declaring that the new policy, which took effect on Sept. 1, made troopers witnesses, not prosecutors.

Shoemaker confirmed that account during a brief interview yesterday after court.

"I'm not going beyond that," he said.

The tickets were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. "They were just dismissed for failure to prosecute," Shoemaker said.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BILL TO UPHOLD TICKET PLEA-BARGAIN SYSTEM:

State police will be allowed to ignore a mandate from their bosses and keep arranging plea bargains on traffic tickets they issue under legislation that was expected to pass late Tuesday night.

The legislation would negate a state police directive prohibiting troopers from reducing traffic tickets after Sept. 1.

The bill came as a response to widespread outrage from statewide prosecutors, county officials and troopers over the administrative decision to end the decades-long plea-bargaining process.

"This is a system that works and has worked for 35 years," said Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. "Why change a system that works well?"

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York State Unified Court System issued an interesting if vague press release yesterday:

Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman today announced that the New York State court system will develop and implement an action plan for improving the operations of New York’s town and village justice courts. The action plan will focus in particular on problems highlighted in a report recently issued by the New York State Comptroller’s Office that identified the mishandling of money in 11 of 32 justice courts audited.

“Although the town and village justice courts are locally funded and staffed, they are an essential part of our state’s justice system,” said Judge Lippman. “We are committed to ensuring that these courts meet the most rigorous standards in budgetary management and operations.”

Judge Lippman added, “We have carefully studied the State Comptroller’s report and take very seriously the concerns raised. We are resolved to addressing any areas of weakness revealed by these audits and, to this end, are expeditiously formulating an action plan, to begin implementation within the next 90 days.”

The action plan will be developed by Lawrence Marks, Esq., Administrative Director of the Office of Court Administration, and Ronald Younkins, Esq., Chief of Operations of the Office of Court Administration. Mr. Marks and Mr. Younkins will be assisted by an advisory group consisting of sitting judges of town and village courts, leaders of the New York State Magistrates Association and other experts on New York’s justice courts

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RECORDS FAULTED FOR SOME TIER COURTS:

Some local courts in the Southern Tier don't keep accurate records of bail and restitution, don't regularly balance their books and even fail to issue receipts at times, according to an audit released this week by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The audits found no wrongdoing. However, these small town and village courts lacked oversight and internal monitoring, and often had staff poorly trained in record management, Hevesi said.
...
Problems included:

* 10 of the 12 justices (Kirkwood's jurists excluded) were unaware that their clerks were supposed to periodically reconcile accounting records and bank balances. In the court of Otego Justice Ronald Decker, clerks had not reconciled the books since Jan. 31, 2004.

* Two justices in Cooperstown, two in Burlington and Decker in Otego didn't maintain proper bail records.

* Justices in Deposit, Cooperstown and Otego failed to keep cancelled checks or other source documents to back up court spending. Justices in Burlington, Cooperstown, Deposit and Otego did not issue proper receipts for money received.
...
Burlington Supervisor Leonard Dabreau admitted that justices and clerks lacked training but said the state should do more to provide training -- and money for training. But he also indicated that one Burlington judge has refused to use updated equipment.

"What do municipalities do when they have purchased computer programs, annual updates and (PCs), yet a justice refuses to use the software or even a hand-written system to maintain his/her docket?" Dabreau wrote.

Deposit and Otego officials did not respond to Hevesi's audit.

The comptroller strongly urged the state Legislature to aid local courts by providing training. But he also suggested that it consolidate courts in some areas, sometimes folding village and town courts into one, and removing cash collection duties from some small courts.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CHANGE IN TICKET POLICY SOUGHT:

State troopers would be allowed to ignore a mandate from their bosses and continue the practice of plea bargaining traffic tickets in court under legislation introduced this week.

The legislation came as pointed reaction to a new State Police policy prohibiting troopers from reducing traffic tickets after Sept. 1.

It also came in response to widespread outrage from statewide prosecutors, county officials and troopers over the decision by State Police brass to end the decades-long plea-bargaining process.
...
In March, State Police brass issued a decree that, after Sept. 1, troopers would no longer appear in court to plea bargain traffic tickets they issued, for example, reducing a Northway speeding infraction to less onerous charges, such as not wearing a seat belt.

Instead, any deals to be cut would be done through the local district attorney's office, according to the policy shift.

State Police Chief Counsel Glenn Valle argued the agency has always had a policy against troopers plea bargaining cases but it hasn't been enforced. He also called the plea-bargaining practice unethical, given that ticketed motorists end up having to strike deals with their accusers.

DeFedericis said the State Police's motive was to reduce overtime costs for troopers to appear in court.

"That is the State Police's clear agenda, even though they refuse to admit it," he said.

District attorneys across the state have said they don't have the manpower to take on the additional caseload, and the State Association of Counties slammed the State Police policy as an unfunded mandate.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I rarely post news from my home county because the two newspapers here provide web access only by subscription. The above-the-fold article in today's Jamestown Post-Journal- MERGING LOCAL COURTS- merits a mention, however, even without a link. The Democrats in the Chautauqua County Legislature have floated a trial balloon for a proposal to consolidate in one form or another 33 town, village, and city courts in the county into district courts. The article is short on detail, there is no formal proposal yet, and I can confirm that at least four of the towns in the county have not been consulted about it at all. Nevertheless, this is an idea that I've mentioned to some of my clients and I would hope, that, if nothing else, perhaps a test court could be established to confirm that it would in fact save money without hindering the effectiveness of the judicial system. We'll see. [Update: I understand that district courts exist on Long Island and one was recently formed in Broome County, and, by all appearances they make sense in that suburban setting- my question is whether they would be cost-effective in rural areas.]

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

NO MORE EASY WAY OUT FOR TICKETED DRIVERS:

DRIVERS who don't always obey traffic laws - the ones who drive 65 mph in a 55-mph zone, who only yield at red lights before making a right turn, or who fail to signal when making a turn or lane change - could find their scofflaw ways a lot more expensive if they're stopped by a state trooper.

Beginning Sept. 1, state troopers no longer will be allowed to plea-bargain with motorists for reduced charges on the tickets they issue.

That means the common practice of before-court meetings between troopers and ticketed motorists, during which a trooper offers, for example, to reduce a speeding ticket to a charge of failure to obey a traffic device, will end. A speeding ticket issued by a state trooper will remain a speeding ticket.

STATE POLICE officials say the longstanding practice of allowing troopers to negotiate a guilty plea to a lesser charge is unethical. And that so many troopers have to appear in court because drivers know if they plead not guilty, the charge probably will be reduced, authorities say, threatens the public safety because troopers must be taken off patrol to go to court.

"It's repugnant to have police officers plea-bargaining the tickets they wrote," said Glenn Valle, chief counsel to the state police. "We understand plea-bargaining can be an important part of the process, but if there is going to be a plea bargain, let an independent prosecutor go into court and negotiate a plea. The police officer's job is to write the tickets."

Valle said the state police have been considering the move for several years and finally decided to make the change "to do the right thing."

BUT THE president of the state troopers' union says the new policy is intended to reduce the overtime paid to troopers who attend court on their off days.

"I call it a scheme," said Daniel DeFrederics, presi- dent of the New York State Police Benevolent Association. "They're not telling the truth about it. It's been poorly thought out and poorly planned.

"They're saying it's an ethical consideration, but it's purely about money," DeFrederics said. "Their sole purpose is to save overtime money."
...
BUT prosecutors in Dutchess, Ulster and Greene counties say they won't assume the responsibility of prosecuting traffic infractions; and local magistrates say the state police policy could overburden part-time court systems that already are stretched thin in communities across the state and could result in an unequal application of justice.

"It's going to wreak havoc on the courts, creating considerable inequities for similarly situated drivers," said Hyde Park Justice David Steinberg. "A driver who is ticketed by the state police may receive harsher treatment than a driver ticketed by non-state police agencies who will offer drivers a plea bargain."

Without the plea bargain, Steinberg said, the incentive to avoid trial will be gone and many motorists may take their chances at a trial rather than simply plead guilty to the charge. If that happens in a town like Hyde Park, where the majority of the roughly 100 traffic trials scheduled each month by the two justices end in plea bargains, the justice court's "limited resources would certainly be strained," he said.

The Times Herald-Record comments:

State police officials have discovered a long-standing injustice - a "repugnant" example of "unfairness and duress" and took steps last week to rectify it.

For decades - dark, repugnance-filled decades - motorists caught in state police speed traps have been allowed to plea bargain their way to lesser charges. Now, the brass at state police headquarters want the practice to end.

The troopers' local union rep says the brass is less concerned with ethics than with reducing overtime.

Not so, counters the chief counsel to the state police. Then, in chilling detail, he describes the odious procedure: "There's an inherent outward appearance of unfairness and duress when a motorist is forced to plea bargain with the very same officer who stands as his or her accuser."

So far, none of the 100,000 or so annual regional victims of plea bargaining has surfaced to join the outcry against this abomination.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)