Tom Liotti's recent letter to the editor concerning our judiciary in the Town and Village Courts statewide, in my opinion, is just another example of counsel “shooting from the hip.” Rather than citing actual statistical facts, Mr. Liotti relies upon contrary anecdotal commentary.

Had Mr. Liotti referred to the Annual Report of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, totaling the complaints received for the various categories of the judiciary in New York State found on pages 4 through 6, exclusive of the complaints received concerning the Court of Appeals, he would have determined that overall the complaints received in 2017 concerning the Town and Village Courts constituted 16.7% of the total complaints versus the remaining 83.3% of the total complaints attributable to the state-paid judiciary; all of whom are attorneys. In reviewing the report further, Mr. Liotti would have also realized that the Town and Village Judiciary constitutes the largest portion of the overall judiciary statewide. Therefore, contrary to Mr. Liotti's assertions, the majority of the disciplinary matters investigated by the Commission were not against the Town and Village Judiciary.

Our Town and Village Justices, both attorney and non-attorney, represent the “courts closest to the people,” the courts in which the majority of the public may encounter their first interactions with our judicial system. Since the 2006 implementation of the Action Plan for the Justice Courts, originally authored by our now current Chief Administrative Judge, Hon. Lawrence K. Marks, the Town and Village Judiciary training and support has expanded significantly from what once was. The Town and Village training, both judicial and non-judicial, is both extensive and thorough. The Office of Judicial Support and Special Counsel in each Judicial District provides ongoing law clerk support. Computer systems have been significantly upgraded providing access to the common legal research search engines, interconnectivity with mandated state agencies and the recording of all proceedings.

As pointed out in the 2006 Action Plan for the Justice Courts on page 43, “… most non-attorney justices perform their judicial roles admirably and well. [T]heir professionalism, diligence and dedication are apparent, they take very seriously their judicial roles and their duties continually to improve their knowledge of the law, and over the years exceptions to these principles have been relatively few in number.”

While Mr. Liotti seems familiar with the more urban, densely populated counties of our great state, I would invite him to venture out and tour the more rural landscape of our state. In doing so, he might learn that the attorney population in some counties cannot even support the county-wide needs for legal representation let alone if the Town and Village Judiciary were required to be all lawyers. Further, I would encourage Mr. Liotti to familiarize himself with the judicial ethics restrictions placed upon part-time attorney Town and Village Justices who, with certain limited exceptions, cannot appear before another part-time attorney Town and Village Justice in the same county; thereby effectively impeding the attorney part-time justice from portions of practice and livelihood. These restrictions may also apply to members of the part-time attorney justice's firm. Further restrictions upon the part-time attorney Town and Village Justices may also adversely restrict their ability to accept most law guardian assignments, guardian ad litem assignments and many other often well-paying assignments; not only for the Justice, but also for others related to the justice throughout the entire state.

In my opinion, our Town and Village Judiciary of today, both attorney and non-attorney; severely underpaid in comparison to their state-paid judicial counterparts, perform their duties diligently and seriously, as a community service for the betterment of their respective communities and the state as a whole.

Lastly, while I do realize that Mr. Liotti is one of the co-authors of the treatise he cites in his editorial, in my opinion, he does a disservice to the other contributors; legal scholars who also authored that treatise; the majority of whom I understand provided the majority of the materials.

David S. Gideon is president of the New York State Magistrates Association and a justice in the Town of DeWitt in Onondaga County.