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City Attorney to Push for Judge Raises in State Commission Hearing

By DNAinfo Staff on July 20, 2011 11:56am

Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo.
Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo.
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Corporation Counsel City of New York

MANHATTAN — The head of the city's law department is going to bat for state judges at a special commission Wednesday, as he pushes for them to get the salary increases they have been denied for more than a decade, his office announced.

Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo is expected to argue that the state's failure to properly pay its judges is "a national disgrace," and one that should be quickly addressed at the Special Commission on Judicial Compensation in Albany. The state commission was organized to examine the prospect of giving state judges salary boosts that many say are long overdue and much deserved.

"A strong and independent judiciary is essential to the proper functioning of government," Cardozo is expected to say as part of his prepared testimony. "New York's failure to compensate judges properly is weakening the judiciary and therefore weakening our entire government."

The last salary bump state judges received was a "cost of living" raise in 1999. State Supreme Court and Family Court judges currently earn $136,700 and Criminal and Civil Court judges earn $125,000, Cardozo said.

While those salaries are "not an insignificant amount," they are not just compensation for judges, a class of attorneys who are accomplished veterans and "leaders in their fields" making important decisions in society, Cardozo will argue.

The city's Corporation Counsel represents the mayor, the city and its agencies in all legal matters. Cardozo has been in office since 2002.