The answer is a simple no.
In 2007 New York State judges received a pay raise in the form of a $5,000 expense account to cover anything from uncovered medical costs to judicial robe purchases, according to Joel Stashenko in a New York Law Journal Article, published on November 2, 2007.
Stashenko goes onto say, “The 1,300 state judges also will get more vacation time, reimbursement for a third night of attending annual meetings of their judicial associations and a return to a statewide forum for their summer judicial seminars instead of a regional one.”
All judges with at least five years of service had their vacation time increased from twenty days a year to twenty-five.
As we all know, sometimes getting an increase in benefits is better than getting an increase in pay.
Many average New Yorkers would be happy to get the twenty days of vacation time that judges with less than five years of service get. And a $5,000 expense account is unheard of.
Several judges have taken to recusing themselves from cases, in part to protest the lack of a pay increase, according to Al Roney, morning talk show host at WGY. You can download and listen to a great show he did on the subject.
