By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Twenty-five years ago, Hon. Judith Kaye shattered the judicial glass ceiling in New York when Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed her associate judge of the state's Court of Appeals. She was the first woman ever to serve on the highest court of the state, and a decade later broke new ground when Cuomo elevated her again, this time to serve as the state's chief judge.

After 15 years in her current post, Kaye will step down Dec. 31, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. On Wednesday, she traveled to Manhattan to give her final State of the Judiciary address. It was the first time in her record-setting tenure as chief judge that Kaye has given the annual speech outside of Albany.

Kaye used her final address, which she referred to as her "swan song," to categorically review the accomplishments made during her tenure and the challenges she sees ahead for her successor. She was quick to dismiss the question of what was next on the horizon for her as her judicial career draws to a close.

"As I have watched the remaining days of my term dwindle, my thoughts have not been ‘What next?' but rather more what should be accomplished in the courts these next 49 days."

Kaye spoke about civil justice, criminal justice and the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the court system during her tenure. She took a moment to voice her displeasure over the lack of movement in bargaining to achieve raises for the 1,250 trial judges in the state. Kaye took the unusual step of filing a lawsuit in April seeking their first pay raise since 1999.

"It is heartbreaking, frustrating and demoralizing beyond description that our judiciary ... should have had its compensation frozen for more than a decade," she said.

Housing issues

Among court-system improvements, Kaye noted the increase in housing-court judges from 40 to 50 and strides made in reforming the court process for people facing eviction or foreclosure. She also lauded the volunteer hours logged by New York lawyers assisting needy clients with housing issues.

"The response of the bar has been especially heartening in this area, and I know it will continue to be, because it doesn't take a genius to see the increasingly dismal picture ahead," she said.

Kaye addressed the worsening foreclosure crisis facing New York and the nation, a situation she called "deeply troubling." She praised the new program mandating that written notice be sent to people facing potential foreclosure, noting that since its inception in September nearly 25,000 such notices have gone out.

"There is a large gap to fill between the offer of a court conference and the reality of a workout," she added. "I can predict with certainty that this problem will not be resolved by Dec. 31, 2008, but will remain a very high priority for my successor."

Flood of filings

Speaking to the more than 1.5 million new filings of criminal cases flowing through the court system, Kaye focused on "problem-solving initiatives" implemented on her watch, among them the advent of the first drug court in 1995 and a philosophical change to the way courts handle sentencing in criminal cases. She shared the numbers behind the drug court as proof the system is working.

"We have had more than 18,500 graduates, with more than 7,000 participants currently in the program," she said.

Kaye also noted that 623 drug-free babies have been born to women who have taken part in the program and emphasized the critical role these courts play in easing the burden on the criminal-court system.

"Drug courts are designed to halt the revolving door of addiction and arrest by linking nonviolent drug-addicted offenders to court-supervised drug treatment and rigourous judicial monitoring," she said. "We asked ourselves ... whether we could take the opportunity to stop the deadly drumbeat of drugs, crime, jail, drugs, crime, jail ... (and) the answer became a resounding yes."

The result of that focus she says, is the addition of similar specialized court programs.

"Now, in addition to drug courts," she said, "we have mental-health courts offering treatment as an alternative to prison, and we have domestic-violence courts and sex-offender courts, enhancing victim safety and defendant accountability."

Infrastructure, green initiatives

With millions of people flowing through the courthouse doors annually, Kaye also mentioned capital improvements that have been made during her time as chief.

"Within the past 15 years, more than 40 new courthouses have opened, and dozens of others have been renovated, expanded or modernized," she said, noting among other examples a new Niagara Falls City Court facility being built and the Chautauqua County Family Court.

"I am particularly pleased to see improved family court facilities," she said. "Life is already hard enough for the people we serve in family court. I know that the court system will continue to work closely with our partners in government to ensure that all New Yorkers have the facilities they deserve for the conduct of their important business."

Kaye also used the opportunity to unveil what she called "the first-ever comprehensive environmental action plan for any justice system in the United States," a program called Green Justice (see www.nycourts.gov/whatsnew).

She said the program is an offshoot of what she'd envisioned in a 1994 address on "paperless courts." Disturbed by the hundreds of millions of pieces of paper the court processes annually and the ever-increasing environmental footprint the system creates, she says Green Justice will examine ways to lessen the courts' environmental impact.

Green Justice, she said, will see the court system expanding electronic filing; replacing in-person appearances with video-conferencing, when appropriate; setting energy- and water-conservation standards; and establishing a statewide Web site for credit-card payment of court fines and fees.

After touching on issues such as the need to build continued public trust, youth initiatives, the town-and-village justice system and the future of the probation system, Kaye concluded her farewell State of the Judiciary speech with her final thoughts on the court system she helped build.

"The judiciary I leave behind, while in one key regard deeply pained personally and individually, has heroically risen to its obligations to serve the public wisely and diligently, soundly and innovatively," she said, "preserving and carrying forward the best of the past to meet the demands of a rapidly changing society."