A panel of Manhattan appeals court justices Thursday nixed back pay for about 1,800 state judges who claim 10 years of low salaries violated New York’s Constitution.
Four judges, including Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright, whose brother is Assemblyman Keith Wright, sued in 2007 demanding a wage increase from a max of $136,700 to $165,000.
At the time, they argued that their salaries, adjusted for cost of living, ranked 49th in the nation and hadn’t been raised since 1999.
In 2012, Gov. Cuomo approved a 27 percent bump to about $174,000 starting in 2014.
The increase came after the state’s highest court found in 2010 that the Legislature had held judicial raises hostage by tying the hikes to political issues like campaign finance reform and the lawmakers’ own salaries.
The Court of Appeals said future raises should be merit-based, but was mum on the question of back pay.
So Wright and his colleagues sued again for $325 million in retroactive damages to be split among 1,800 current, retired, resigned and deceased judges.
Three members of a five-judge panel ruled against the request, saying budgetary issues should be decided by the Legislature.
If judges could give themselves pay raises, that would violate the separation of powers doctrine, Manhattan Appellate Division Judge John Sweeny wrote in his concurring opinion.
“The judiciary, as a coequal branch of government, simply cannot constitutionally tell the legislature to appropriate or pay any amount of money for any specific purpose,” Sweeny wrote.
In her dissent, Judge Helen Freedman countered that the 2010 Court of Appeals case allows the judiciary to award compensation to correct the Legislature’s violations.
“The past and current members of the judiciary are entitled to monetary damages as the only available remedy for the past violations,” Freedman wrote.
She noted the Court of Appeals decision said, “the legislature weakens the judiciary by making it unduly dependent on the legislature.”
The judges’ attorney, Thomas Bezanson, blasted the decision, promising to appeal.
“The majority opinion has it wrong in thinking courts are invading the prerogatives of the Legislature. The state can pay damages just like anyone else can pay damages,” Bezanson said.
The state’s judges were so miffed by their deflated paychecks that they waged a “rule-book slowdown” in 2008, refusing to hear cases involving firms associated with members of the Assembly and Senate.
The revolt of the robes even included a blacklist of 50 state legislators registered as attorneys.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Manhattan firm Weitz & Luxenberg was a prime target of the protest. This year Silver reported pulling in $750,000 from his side gig, in addition to his comparatively meager state salary of $121,000.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who represented the governor as the defendant in the judges’ suit, declined to comment.