March 20, 2010 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Merged Bronx Court
Five years after the merger of the Bronx County Criminal Court and the Bronx County Supreme Court’s criminal term, a report from the state Unified Court System found the merger has led to more efficient adjudication of misdemeanor cases, but the number of felony trials has fallen while a backlog grew. As a result, the court will establish special parts to address the oldest felonies and misdemeanors, among other measures.  2009-11-09

Claims Against City Up
A new report from New York City Comptroller William Thompson found the city paid $567.9 million in settlements and judgments for personal injury, property damage and law claims in fiscal year 2008. During fiscal year 2007, according to the report, the city paid $558.3 million. In fiscal year 2008, the city had 26,798 new claims -- the second highest number since 1999. The Department of Transportation and the Police Department had the highest number of claims against them. 2009-03-17

Wrongful Convictions
Incorrect identification, errors by a prosecutor, law enforcement personnel or judge, and mistakes in handling evidence were the leading causes of wrongful convictions in New York State, according to a recent report by a New York State Bar Association task force. The panel, which examined 53 cases, said the convictions generally resulted from several factors and called for a number of changes to prevent such errors in the future. 2009-02-24

Reforming the State's Drug Laws
The state must reform its drug laws, according to a new report by the Sentencing Commission, which was appointed by former governor Eliot Spitzer nearly two years ago. For successful reform, the commission calls for community-based drug treatment, providing statewide access to substance abuse treatment programs, alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders, and a uniform statewide drug diversion model. 2009-02-05

New York's Juvenile Justice System
This report comes from the Vera Institute and assesses the juvenile justice system statewide from '04 through '06: The number of juvenile delinquency cases referred to court remained unchanged at 66 percent; Juvenile delinquents placed in state or county custody decreased by 8 percent; Black youth account for 60 percent of those placed in custody but only account for 19 percent of youth in state; Court petitions for juveniles in the justice system for non-criminal behavior - such as truancy, incorrigibility, or running away - dropped 41 percent; The state's Division of Criminal Justice Services raised concerns about the reliability of juvenile arrest data for the period covered, so the report does not include it. 2009-01-22

Greater Oversight of Police Misconduct
A new report by Citizens Union, the good government group and sister organization to Gotham Gazette’s publisher, calls for greater oversight of police misconduct, including allowing the Civilian Complaint Review Board to prosecute cases it substantiates. The report also urges the city to give more active subpoena power to the civilian board and expand its resources to investigate complaints, among other policy recommendations. 2008-04-16

Council's Record on Animal Welfare
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and nine other council members were given a "zero" in a new report card by the League of Humane Voters, an animal rights group. The report card grades council members' voting records on five bills and one resolution concerning animal welfare issues. In total, 47 percent of the council voted in line with the group. Six members voted with the group 100 percent of the time. 2008-01-17

Consumer Credit Crisis
The number of consumer debt cases filed in New York City Civil Court is nearly equal to the amount filed nationally, according to a report by the Urban Justice Center. Creditors received almost $800 million in judgments from almost $1 billion in claims. But the manner in which these judgments are obtained troubles the center. In 600 randomly selected cases, they found that 80 percent of judgments were granted through default, which doesn't require requisite proof to establish damages sought. 93 percent of defendants did not appear to defend themselves and only between zero and four percent are represented by counsel. Furthermore, nearly 90 percent of litigation comes from debt buyers who purchased the debt from the original creditor. 2007-11-09

Dear Not Approved by Any Panels
Civil Court Candidate Noach Dear has not been approved by any of the various judicial screening panels set up to evaluate candidates of their qualifications, according to a summary of all judicial races and panels by the New York Lawyer. The two surrogate candidates were approved by all except the Brooklyn Women's Association, who did not rate candidates in that race. 2007-09-17

Payments by City to Settle Claims Drops for 2006
A report released yesterday by the New York City comptroller found that the city "paid out $496.4 million in settlements and judgments for personal injury, property damage and law claims in Fiscal Year 2006, a decline from $529.8 million in Fiscal Year 2005." The comptroller claims credit for the reduction due to initiatives such as Cybersettle, "an Internet-based claims settlement tool." The average claim amount settled through that tool, the report says, was over 65 percent less than those settled by other means. 2007-08-24

A Right to Counsel
A report by the New York County Lawyers’ Association examines the right to counsel in housing court for those of low income. In an attempt to ensure an individual’s ability to remain in his or her home, the report recommends providing adequate state funding for civil legal services and supports a civil right to counsel in New York City. 2007-06-14

Caesarean Sections
New York State is not making sure that hospitals report the number of caesarean sections they perform as is required by law, according to this report by the city public advocate's office. Caesarean sections make up an increasing percentage of births in New York City; 28.6 percent of births in 2004 were caesarean deliveries, almost twice the 15 percent maximum rate recommended by the World Health Organization. New York City’s rate is still lower than the national average, however. 2006-12-07

School Funding Court Ruling
The ruling by the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court, in the thirteen-year litigation known as the Campaign For Fiscal Equity v. The State of New York. Writing for the majority, Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. sums up: “In this third appeal by plaintiffs Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. et al, we address the cost of providing children in New York City’s public schools with a sound basic education. The State estimated this cost to include a minimum of $1.93 billion, in 2004 dollars, in additional annual operating funds. We conclude that this estimate was a reasonable one and that the courts should defer to this estimate, appropriately updated.” Included is the dissent by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who concludes “our trust was misplaced” in state officials “who still have failed to fund the New York City public schools adequately” and their failure is precisely the reason why deference is not owed to them. “For more than 200 years…it has been the province and duty of the judicial branch to enforce compliance with constitutional norms, including (when necessary) as against the other branches of government. Defendants’ continued failure to cure the violation properly obligated the courts to determine the extent of noncompliance and to direct a remedy.” 2006-11-21

The Cost of Lawsuits
New York City paid out more than $575 million to settle lawsuits against it in 2004. This is more than twice what lawsuits cost the city in 1995 and more than two and a half times what the city spent on parks and recreation in 2004. Medical malpractice claims accounted for the largest single share of the settlements. 2006-06-14

Future of Family Court
This report by the Center for an Urban Future looks at the challenges facing New York's family courts and offers recommendations for improving the institution. The report warns that the system is overburdened: the number of juvenile delinquency cases in family court increased 17 percent between 2004 and 2005 and in January 2006, the city took more than twice as many families to court on abuse or neglect than the year before. 2006-03-20

Lower-Priced Lead-Paint Law
In January, 2004, the City Council passed a law, over Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto, that toughened lead paint regulations. Now, after one full year of the new rules, the law didn't cost taxpayers nearly as much as Bloomberg thought it would, according to a brief from the Independent Budget Office. The housing department paid $24.6 million in fiscal year 2005 on lead-based paint education, inspections and remediation, which was more than double the same spending in 2004 but far less than the Bloomberg administration feared. Violations and emergency repairs shot up, too. 2006-01-23

City Paid $575.6 Millions In Claims In 2004
New York City paid out $575.6 million in settlements and judgments for personal injury, property damage and law claims in Fiscal Year 2004, a decline from $582.9 million in Fiscal Year 2003, according to Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. in a new report. The claims report also notes that the total number of new claims filed in FY 2004 was 24,719, the second lowest number in ten years and a decline from the 25,346 claims filed in FY 2003. 2005-12-06

Mishandling Legal Estates In Brooklyn
The same week that Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court Judge Michael Feinberg was removed from the bench, “a city report [as the Daily News put it] said the system the judge presided over was rife with sloppy bookkeeping.” The Office of City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr.’s “Audit Report on the Estate Management Practices of the Kings County Public Administrator” found, among other things, that “the estate files are often disorganized collections of documentation” and that the office of the Kings County Public Administrator was “unable to demonstrate that the fees it charged estates for administrative expense…were appropriate.” For a commentary arguing for the elimination of Surrogate’s Court, see “A Court of Corruption” 2005-07-05