NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
I.L.A. A.F.L. C.I.O.

 

Omar 01'an Piusmmr

 

ORK STATE COURT, ICRR ASSOCIATION

   

October 31, 2018

Janet DiFiore

Chief Judge of the State of New York
20 Eagle Street

Albany, NY 12207

Dear Judge DiFiore,

We received your letter about a lawful demonstration we held outside the State Supreme Court
Building at 60 Centre St. on October 23 and were struck by your outrageous and totally false claim that
the officers we represent were somehow attacking Italian-Americans and by your continued

refusal to address the severe staffing shortages that endanger everyone who works in our court
system.

The officers, hard?working men and women who belong to the New York State Supreme Court Officers
Association and the New York State Court Officers Association (NYSCOA), were exercising
their right to freely express their views about how they have been treated.

Instead of addressing the fact that staffing shortages delay trials and hearings, create dangerous
conditions in courtrooms and corridors and that 60 Officers are out on disability leave for injuries
suffered in altercations on your watch, you chose to focus on a spurious claim that we were attacking
Italian-Americans and you, personally, as the first Italian?American ChiefJudge in New York?s history.

Nothing could be further from the truth.
You base this totally self-invented claim on the fact that some of the officers were wearing T?Shirts that

said: Office of Court Administration; Organized Crime Association; Beaver Street Bullies. The 
shirts were a play on the OCA acronym and nothing more.

We?re also struck by your reference of the ?family? of court employees. All our members feel
mistreated and abused by your policies and such mistreatment is no way to treat a family member.

We will not apologize for exercising our constitutional rights or for bringing to the public?s attention our
concerns for public safety in the nation?s busiest judicial system.

Instead, you should apologize for dodging the real issue the understaffing that reduced the number of
court officers by 33 percent in the last 10 years and contributed to the number of serious injuries to our
members and for your refusal to meet with us to discuss staffing levels and courthouse security.

You have said you are committed to hiring. if you are truly committed to increasing the number of
court officers in compliance with your own guidelines, you should do that immediately. Until then you
should issue a directive stating that no judge should take the bench without proper staffing. Until you
demonstrate with actions and not just words, your commitment to solving the security crisis we now
face, we will continue our advocacy to make our court houses safer for both our members and the

  

public.

Sincerely, 
Pat Cullen - Ennis Quirk
President President

New York State Supreme Court Officers Association New York State Court Officers Association