http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shlep/2006/09/25/second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-courts/ news, views and info on self-help law and pro se litigation Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:11:37 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shlep/2006/09/25/second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-courts/comment-page-1/#comment-279 shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress » Blog Archive » turkey leftovers Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:34:25 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shlep/2006/09/25/second-class-justice-in-nys-justice-cou#comment-279 [...] b)  The hordes of pro se litigants who appear in the Justice Courts of the State of New York, got good news this week.  Surely spurred on by the New York Times three-part series in September, describing the oft-malfunctioning system of small town and village courts (see our prior post), the NYS Chief Judge, Judith S. Kaye, announced a set of reforms that include “plans to increase training for the justices, to improve their supervision and to better monitor whether they are protecting basic legal principles like the constitutional right to a lawyer” and the requirement “for the first time to keep a word-for-word record of their proceedings, like other courts in the state.” (New York Times, “Justice Courts for Small New York Towns to be Overhauled,” Nov. 22, 2006)  Other major issues were not addressed in the proposals, because they would need legislative changes and face considerable political opposition from local politicians. “Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that while the reforms suggested by Judge Kaye were welcome, ‘these are Band-Aids on a system that needs serious systemic reform’.” [...] [...] b)  The hordes of pro se litigants who appear in the Justice Courts of the State of New York, got good news this week.  Surely spurred on by the New York Times three-part series in September, describing the oft-malfunctioning system of small town and village courts (see our prior post), the NYS Chief Judge, Judith S. Kaye, announced a set of reforms that include “plans to increase training for the justices, to improve their supervision and to better monitor whether they are protecting basic legal principles like the constitutional right to a lawyer” and the requirement “for the first time to keep a word-for-word record of their proceedings, like other courts in the state.” (New York Times, “Justice Courts for Small New York Towns to be Overhauled,” Nov. 22, 2006)  Other major issues were not addressed in the proposals, because they would need legislative changes and face considerable political opposition from local politicians. “Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that while the reforms suggested by Judge Kaye were welcome, ‘these are Band-Aids on a system that needs serious systemic reform’.” [...]

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