{"id":146,"date":"2006-09-25T13:53:28","date_gmt":"2006-09-25T17:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2006\/09\/25\/second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-cou"},"modified":"2006-11-07T21:55:17","modified_gmt":"2006-11-08T01:55:17","slug":"second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2006\/09\/25\/second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-courts\/","title":{"rendered":"“second class justice” in ny’s justice courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times<\/em> started a three-part series called Broken Bench<\/em>, today,\u00a0about the “second class system of justice” afforded\u00a0by the\u00a0justice courts<\/em> of New York State.\u00a0 “In Tiny Courts of N.Y., Abuses of \u00a0Law and Power<\/strong><\/a>,” Sept. 25, 2006).\u00a0 [via Law Librarian Blog<\/em><\/a>]\u00a0There are 1250 justice courts in towns and villages across the State.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although many in the public see the justice courts as “quaint holdovers from a bygone era, handling nothing weightier than traffic tickets and small claims” a year-long NYT investigation “found overwhelming evidence that decade after decade and up to this day, people have often been denied fundamental legal rights” the those courts.<\/p>\n

According to the Times<\/em> and observers who have complained about the justice courts for over a century, the biggest problem is the lack of training of the justices (most of whom are not lawyers, and the State “demands more schooling for licensed manicurists and hair stylists.”) and the lack of effective administrative oversight.\u00a0\u00a0 According to the article, 30 states still have similar low-tier court systems.\u00a0\u00a0The series should be well-worth following.\u00a0 [click for Part 2<\/a>\u00a0“You Learn by Mistakes” (Sept. 26, 2006), which focuses on Justice William J. Gori in Malone, NY; and Part 3<\/a>,\u00a0 \u201cHow a Reviled Court System Has Outlasted Critics\u201d\u00a0(Sept. 27, 2006)]<\/font><\/p>\n

\"hangman\"\u00a0 The vast majority of the cases heard before the town and village courts are civil in nature — many involve traffic violations or small claims.\u00a0\u00a0 Most litigants surely appear pro se<\/em> before these under-trained justices, in courts that have no requirement for transcripts or recording.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At the State’s official justice court website<\/a>, the New York’s deputy chief administrative judge, Hon. Jan H. Plumadore, notes the vital role of justice courts:<\/font><\/p>\n

“Many New Yorkers will have their first and only court experience in a town or village court. The justices who preside in these courts are instrumental in resolving community disputes involving vehicle and traffic matters, small claims, evictions, civil matters and criminal offenses.” <\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s good to see that the State has put resources into a website “designed to assist town and village justices and court clerks in fulfilling their judicial responsibilities by providing legal research resources, training information and links to other useful websites.”\u00a0\u00a0 However, considering the plight of many pro se<\/em> litigants appearing in justice courts, it’s a bit disheartening to\u00a0see that\u00a0“Future enhancements will provide guidance to the general public as well.”\u00a0\u00a0 Now\u00a0is not too soon. [Other sites of interest: The State Comptroller’s Justice Court website<\/a>; and NYS Magistrates Association<\/a>]<\/font><\/p>\n

New Yorkers who find themselves in a justice court on small claims matters might — if the justice is interested in relevant law and procedure — find useful assistance in the 24-page Guide to Small Claims in the NYS City, Town and Village Courts<\/a>. <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times started a three-part series called Broken Bench, today,\u00a0about the “second class system of justice” afforded\u00a0by the\u00a0justice courts of New York State.\u00a0 “In Tiny Courts of N.Y., Abuses of \u00a0Law and Power,” Sept. 25, 2006).\u00a0 [via Law Librarian Blog]\u00a0There are 1250 justice courts in towns and villages across the State.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although many in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[991],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-items"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}