Saturday, July 30, 2016

Judges leaving defendants in the clink


From NBC:

Over the course of about a month, I-Team cameras caught courthouse doors locking well before the official 1 a.m. closing time. In one case, doors locked at 11:27 p.m. On another night they locked at 11:15 p.m. On yet another night, court officers closed the building at 10:58 p.m. The judge adjourned court and went home before 10 p.m.

The New York State Office of Court Administration confirmed that for about the last six years, night court judges in Queens have been given the discretion to adjourn early on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights when the flow of defendants is lightest.

"In Queens County it typically takes about three and one-half hours to arraign a case after the case is docketed – a 5 percent reduction from last year," Chalfen wrote in an email to the I-Team.

Despite that statistic, Helen Weinstein, who chairs the NY Assembly Committee on the Judiciary, said she is asking court administrators to review the go-home-early policy.

"No judge should be leaving the bench early if there's somebody who could be arraigned that night," Weinstein said. "In probably the overwhelming majority of cases, the person is going to be arraigned and sent home."

6 comments:

R185 said...

The question is, was anyone in the pipeline to be arraigned on those early closing nights or not. If not, the early closing didn't impact anyone.

Anonymous said...

If they aren't paid for those hours that is fine. If they are still paid until 1 am that is fraud and a crime and they should either stay open or not be paid.

Anonymous said...

Happened to me several years ago

Anonymous said...

I Remember the days you got a dat for dwi.......

JQ LLC said...

I suggest that a judge be appointed that's obsessed with magic, pranking and Mel Torme. With an ensemble of oddball and wisecracking court officers and appointed attorneys with compulsive sex drives and wholesome but sexy good looks.

I still miss Selma Diamond.

Anonymous said...

WTF do they cafe?
They leave to go scoff down their fat cat late dinners and drinks.
The defendants live on bread and water.
Better to be a member of Congress. Almost as good being a judge.
Judge not that he shall be judged!
Fat cat high end civil service....that's what these jobs are.
And you cannot beat the job security of a Congress member, nor their medical,coverage and pension.
Ahem...hmmmm......judges score some nice under the table money.
Later on...I know of one specific case...of a judge who got hired by corporate after his term ended....att $600,0000 a year as a "consultant"!
Not too bad....eh?