I work for a NY State Court. The office was all abuzz this afternoon because word came down from Albany that all state offices are going to be closed on Friday in commemoration of Ronald Reagan’s demise. WTF! I am OUTRAGED! I like a day off as much as the next person, but I cannot believe that anyone thinks that the best way to honor an ex-President who died in his bed at age 96 of natural causes is to close down an entire state’s government for a whole day – with pay, naturally – and inconveniencing literally **MILLIONS ** of taxpayers!
Has the world gone completely mad? (Yes, this is a rhetorical question.)
We just got an absolutely lousy contract (which passed by a margin of six or eight votes under very suspicious circumstances) from a state that is supposedly in dire straits financially. No, I don’t doubt that post 911 expenses are high and that the state is carrying an increased burden due to programs which have reduced federal funding and have to be financed by state taxes. I don’t doubt that money is tight. So what could possibly justify wasting millions of dollars by giving the whole state the equivalent of “Senior Cutout Day” with pay? Does anyone really think that my colleagues are going to spend the whole day watching funeral coverage on television and waxing reminiscent about Ronald Reagan? By the way, TV reception is really LOUSY on the beach.
Meanwhile, bright and early on Friday morning, many thousands of taxpayers who haven’t heard about the shutdown are going to take off work and show up at motor vehicle offices, courts and other state facilities looking for services which they will not receive. Can you imagine travelling to NY from another state for a court appearance and finding out that it was cancelled for this? What if you were scheduled to be in court on Friday for a hotly contested custody hearing that you had been waiting for for months? Sorry. Apparently, the welfare of your child is not as important as paying homage to a dead man.
Unexpected shutdowns like this wreak total havoc on court calendars, and getting a trial date is hard enough as it is. In fact, this is one of the worst times of year for trials, since judges, like everyone else, take summer vacations, so a trial which gets bumped on Friday might have to wait for quite some time to get back on. With the harsh winter (which caused several shutdowns) factored in, this may just be the worst year EVER to try to get your petition addressed.
The frustration and confusion that litigants have to contend with in court is more than enough as it is without being hit with something like this. It will fuel the litigants’ anger and make them feel even more justified in their almost universal belief that the courts are just here to screw them over and that we don’t care about them. Harsh consequences follow when litigants fail to show up for court – warrants of arrest, inquested orders of support, loss of custody. I don’t think they are asking too much by expecting the Court to be there for them on the dates that they are supposed to appear.
On top of everything else, the taxpayers will again be left with a bad taste in their mouths about us “lazy” state employees who “do nothing but feed off the public teat.” Well, guess what, folks. Better than 95% of the state – and county – employees that I have encountered over the years have been hardworking, caring people who want to get the job done quickly and well.
I am appalled. Thanks, Governor Pataki. Thanks a load. :rolleyes:
