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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Courts - "N.Y. Judges Present Range of Moonlighting Requests for Extra Pay"

Joel Stashenko of the NY Law Journal has a lengthy story today with examples of paid outside work requests that have been approved for NY judges. Some quotes:

A judge can race motorcycles, coach basketball and captain a sightseeing boat without creating a conflict with his primary judicial role or compromising its dignity.

Those are a few of the determinations New York state court administrators have made since last fall when they relaxed prohibitions against judicial moonlighting in light of the fact that judges have not received a raise since 1999.

Relatively few of the state's 1,300 judges have seized the opportunity, however. Only 14 applications for approval to engage in outside paid work have been received, with 10 being accepted.

What about the four that were rejected? Here are two:
A proposal from Pauline Mullings, an acting Supreme Court justice in a criminal term in Queens, that she be allowed to get a license as a private security guard and work nights, weekends and holidays when she is not on the bench was rejected. McConnell said security guards typically have interaction with local law enforcement personnel, which could create the appearance of a conflict for a judge on a criminal court bench.

Brooklyn Acting Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus' request to charge more than $100 to solemnize marriages if extra work is involved to create "unique and special" ceremonies was denied. McConnell said judges could conceivably be paid for providing ancillary services at a wedding away from court premises, such as catering or photography, but General Municipal Law ยง805-b expressly limits the fee for performing a ceremony to $100.

Marrus said judges often spend hours beyond the actual wedding ceremony trying to get to know the couples so they can personalize the service.

"It's unfortunate that judges cannot get compensated for the additional time that we put into performing marriage ceremonies beyond the ceremony itself," Marrus said in an interview. "But since the administration feels that that would violate the current statute, then I feel obligated to follow that decision ... . You have to abide by the rules ... . There is no one to take an appeal to."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 25, 2011 01:52 PM
Posted to Courts in general