Judicial Compensation-NYS

THE PEOPLE FIGHT BACK!

Litigation #2:   CJA's CITIZEN-TAXPAYER ACTION
Commenced March 28, 2014, Supreme Court/Albany Co.

CENTER FOR JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, INC. and ELENA RUTH SASSOWER, individually and as Director of the Center for Judicial Accountability, Inc., acting on their own behalf and on behalf of the People of the State of New York & the Public Interest,                                                                                                       

                                               -against-                                                                                                        

ANDREW M. CUOMO, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of New York, DEAN SKELOS in his official capacity as Temporary Senate President,  THE NEW YORK STATE SENATE, SHELDON SILVER, in his official capacity as Assembly Speaker, THE NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY, ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of New York, and THOMAS DiNAPOLI, in his official capacity as Comptroller of the State of New York,

VERIFIED COMPLAINT

TABLE OF EXHIBITS

Exhibit A:       CJA’s March 29, 2013 letter to Governor Cuomo – “RE:  The Governor’s Duty to Disapprove S.2601-a/A.3001-a (Judiciary/Legislative Appropriations Bill), Pursuant to Article VII, §4, and Article IV, §7 of the New York State Constitution, Because the Legislature Violated Express Constitutional and Statutory Safeguards, as well as its Own Rules, in Passing It”

Exhibit B:       CJA’s August 21, 2013 letter to Governor Cuomo – “RE: Achieving BOTH a Properly Functioning Legislature & Your Public Trust Act (Program Bill #3) – the Sine Qua Non for ‘Government Working’ & ‘Working for the People”  enclosure

Exhibit C-1:    CJA’s December 11, 2013 letter to Governor Cuomo, Leaders of Legislature & its “Appropriate Committees” – “RE:  SAFEGUARDING THE PUBLIC PURSE FROM JUDICIAL FRAUD & LARCENY:  Your Constitutional & Statutory Duty to Reject the Entirety of the Judiciary’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2014-2015, Over & Beyond its Concealed, Unitemized Third Phase of the Judicial Salary Increase that Will Otherwise Take Effect, Automatically, on April 1, 2014”

Exhibit C-2:    Enclosure:  CJA’s March 11, 2013 letter to Senate Budget Subcommittee on “Public Protection” – “RE: Rectifying your Absence at the February 6, 2013 Budget Hearing on ‘Public Protection’ by Verifying the Dispositive Nature of the Opposition Testimony to the Judiciary Budget & its Judicial Salary Increase Request”

Exhibit D:       CJA’s December 30, 2013 letter to Governor Cuomo – “RE:  SAFEGUARDING THE PUBLIC PURSE FROM LEGISLATIVE FRAUD & LARCENY:  Your Duty to Exclude the Legislature’s Proposed Budget from the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Because its Absence of Certified Itemized Estimates Violates Article VII, §1 of the NYS Constitution; Alternatively, to Recommend that the Legislature Reject it, or Alter it Based on Certification of Itemized Estimates”

Exhibit E-1:    CJA’s January 7, 2014 letter to Governor, Leaders of the Legislature & its “Appropriate Committees” – “RE: ‘FOLLOWING THE MONEY’:  The Proposed Judiciary & Legislative Budgets for Fiscal Year 2014-2015”

Exhibit E-2:    CJA’s January 7, 2014 letter to Commission to Investigate Public Corruption – “RE: ‘FOLLOWING THE MONEY’:  (1) investigating & reporting on the fraud and larceny in the proposed Judiciary and Legislative budgets for fiscal year 2014-2015 presented by CJA’s December 11 and December 30, 2013 letters; (2) supplement to CJA’s July 19, 2013 corruption complaint & intervention request.”

Exhibit F-1:    CJA’s January 14, 2014 letter to Chairs & Ranking Members of “The Appropriate Committees of the Legislature” –  “RE: ‘Vindicating the Public’s Rights under Article VII, §1 of the NYS Constitution & Legislative Law §32-a: (1) request to testify at the Legislature’s joint budget hearings in opposition to the proposed Judiciary & Legislative budgets; (2) request for information/records as to the process, if any, by which the Legislature’s proposed budget was compiled”

Exhibit F-2:    CJA’s January 14, 2014 letter to indicated recipients

Exhibit G:       CJA’s January 29, 2014 letter to Chairs & Ranking Members of Senate Finance Committee & Assembly Ways and Means Committee – “RE: Your Mandatory Duty under Legislative Law §32-a to Hear Testimony in Opposition to the Legislature’s Proposed Budget & Governor Cuomo’s Budget Bill #S.6351/A.8551 at Public Budget Hearings”

Exhibit H:       CJA’s February 3, 2014 e-mail to Chairs & Ranking Members of Senate Finance Committee & Assembly Ways and Means Committee – “Subject:  Request to Testify in Opposition to ANY Funding for the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption – including the proposed $270,000 appropriation”

Exhibit I:         February 7, 2014 letter from Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, signed by Executive Director Regina Calcaterra

Exhibit J-1:     CJA’s February 11, 2014 letter to Senate Finance Committee Chair & Ranking Member & Secretary of the Senate – “RE: RECORDS REQUEST:  Fiscal Notes for the Governor’s Article VII Judiciary and Legislative Budget Bills & his Introducer’s Memoranda:  #S.6351/A.8551 (2014) – third phase of the judicial salary increase; #S.2601/A.3001 (2013) – second phase of judicial salary increase; #S.6251/A.9051 (2012) – first phase of judicial salary increase”

Exhibit J-2:     Secretary of Senate’s February 19, 2014 response

Exhibit J-3:     CJA’s February 12, 2014 FOIL request to Governor & Division of Budget

Exhibit J-4:     Governor’s February 20, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit J-5:     Governor’s March 20, 2014 response

Exhibit J-6:     Division of the Budget’s February 24, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit J-7:     Division of the Budget’s March 20, 2014 response

Exhibit J-8:     CJA’s February 11, 2014 letter to Assembly Ways and Means Chair & Ranking Member & Assembly Records Access Officer – “RE: RECORDS REQUEST:  The Governor’s Introducer’s Memoranda for his Article VII Judiciary and Legislative Budget Bills: #A.8551/S.6351 (2014) – third phase of the judicial salary increase; #A.3001/S.2601 (2013) – second phase of judicial salary increase; #A.9051/S.6251 (2012) – first phase of judicial salary increase”

Exhibit J-10:   CJA’s February 12, 2014 FOIL request to Governor & Division of Budget

Exhibit J-11:   Governor’s February 20, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit J-12:   Governor’s March 20, 2014 response

Exhibit J-13:   Division of the Budget’s February 24, 2014

Exhibit J-14:   Division of the Budget’s March 20, 2014 response

Senate & Assembly webpages (as of 3/25/14) for S.6351  &   A.8551:  no memos; no votes

Exhibit K-1:    CJA’s February 21, 2014 letter to Chairs & Ranking Members of Senate Finance Committee & Assembly Ways and Means Committee – “RE: “Restoring Value to Your Sham and Rigged February 5, 2014 “Public Protection” Budget Hearing on the Judiciary’s Proposed Budget by Appropriate Questioning of Chief Administrative Judge Prudenti”

Exhibit K-2:    Enclosure: “Questions for Chief Administrative Judge Prudenti”

Exhibit K-3:    Enclosure: “Analysis of the Judiciary’s Two-Part Proposed Budget & ‘Single Budget Bill’ for Fiscal Year 2014-2015

Exhibit K-4:    CJA’s February 24, 2014 e-mail to Rank and File Members of Senate Finance Committee & Assembly Ways and Means Committee –  “RE: HEADS-UP! – What’s Been Happening with the Judiciary & Legislative Budgets – & Appropriations for the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption?”  

Exhibit L:        CJA’s February 28, 2014 e-mail to Chairs & Ranking Members of Senate Finance Committee & Assembly Ways and Means Committee – “Subject: Request that CJA’s February 21, 2014 letter, with enclosures, be posted as ‘Miscellaneous Testimony’ on the Senate Finance Committee website”

Exhibit M-1:   CJA’s March 4, 2014 letter to Chairs & Ranking Members of “Appropriate Committees of the Legislature” –“RE: Your Constitutional Duty: (1) to address the evidence of fraud and unconstitutionality in the proposed Judiciary and Legislative budgets – and in the materially-divergent Governor’s Budget Bill #S.6351/A.8551, which, in violation of Senate and Assembly Rules, is unsupported by a fiscal note and introducer’s memorandum; (2) to address the $270,000 and other appropriations, embedded in the Executive budget, for a demonstrably corrupt Commission to Investigate Public Corruption” 

Exhibit M-2:   Enclosure:  “Questions for Temporary Senate President Skelos and Assembly Speaker Silver”

Exhibit M-3:   CJA’s March 5, 2014 letter to indicated recipients

RECORDS/FOIL REQUESTS

Exhibit N-1:    CJA’s December 2, 2013 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The Legislature’s Certified Itemized Estimates of its Financial Needs for Fiscal Year 2014-2015, as Required by Article VII, §1 of the New York State Constitution”

Exhibit N-2:    Assembly’s December 6, 2013 response

Exhibit N-3:    CJA’s December 16, 2013 records request to Assembly – “RE:  Where are the Legislature’s Certifications & ‘Fringe Benefit Costs’ for Fiscal Year 2014-2015?”

Exhibit N-4:    Assembly’s December 17, 2013 response

Exhibit N-5:    CJA’s December 16, 2013 records request to Senate – “RE: AGAIN: The Legislature’s Certified Itemized Estimates of its Financial Needs For Fiscal Year 2014-2015, as Required by Article VII, §1 of the New York State Constitution”

Exhibit O-1:    CJA’s December 31, 2013 FOIL request to Governor & Budget Director – “RE: (1) the Legislature’s ‘itemized estimates’ of its ‘financial needs’ for fiscal year 2014-2015, ‘certified by the presiding officer of each house’; (2) the Legislature’s ‘General State Charges’ for fiscal year 2014-2015, also itemized and certified”

Exhibit O-2:    Governor’s January 8, 2014 response

Exhibit O-3:    Budget Director’s January 9, 2014 response

Exhibit P-1:    CJA’s January 15, 2014 FOIL request to Governor & Budget Director – “RE: Have New York Governor’s never furnished the Legislature with ‘Commentary’ or ‘recommendations’ on the Legislature’s proposed budgets pursuant to Article VII, §1 of the New York State Constitution?”

Exhibit P-2:    Governor’s January 23, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit P-3:    Governor’s February 10, 2014 response

Exhibit P-4:    Budget Director’s January 23, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit P-4(2):    Budget Director’s February 24, 2014 response

Exhibit P-5:    CJA’s January 15, 2014 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The Governor’s ‘Commentary’ or ‘recommendations’ on the Legislature’s proposed budgets pursuant to Article VII, §1 of the New York State Constitution”

Exhibit P-6:    Senate’s January 23, 2014 response

Exhibit P-7:    Assembly’s January 23, 2014 response

Exhibit Q-1:    CJA’s January 16, 2014 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The process, if any, by which the Legislature’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2014-2015 was compiled”

Exhibit Q-2:    Senate’s January 22, 2014 response

Exhibit Q-3:    Assembly’s January 23, 2014 response

Exhibit R-1:    CJA’s January 17, 2014 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The Legislature’s ‘General State Charges’ and the certifications thereof by the Temporary Senate President and Assembly Speaker, as likewise their certifications of the Legislature’s operating budgets”

Exhibit R-2:    Assembly’s January 23, 2014 response

Exhibit R-3:    Senate’s January 27, 2014 response

Exhibit S-1:    CJA’s January 23, 2014 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The Legislature’s hearings on its own legislative budgets and/or on the Governor’s budget bills making appropriations for the Legislature”

Exhibit S-2:    Assembly’s January 30, 2014 response

Exhibit T-1:    CJA’s January 30, 2014 records request to Senate & Assembly – “RE: The reappropriations for the Legislature appearing in the out-of-sequence section at the back of Governor Cuomo’s Budget Bill #S.6351/A.8551 (pp. 27-46)

Exhibit T-2:    Senate’s February 6, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit T-3:    Senate’s February 25, 2014 response

Exhibit T-4:    Assembly’s February 5, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit T-5:    Assembly’s February 6, 2014 response

Exhibit T-6:    CJA’s January 30, 2014 FOIL request to Governor & Budget Director – “RE: The reappropriations for the Legislature appearing in the out-of-sequence section at the back of Governor Cuomo’s Budget Bill #S.6351/A.8551 (pp. 27-46)

Exhibit T-7:    Governor’s February 6, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit T-8:    Governor’s March 5, 2014 response

Exhibit T-9:  Division of Budget's February 10, 2014 acknowledgment

Exhibit U-1:    CJA’s February 27, 2014 records request to Senate – “RE: Video & Stenographic Transcripts of the Senate ‘Coup’: June 8, 2009 – July 8, 2009; and Subsequent Senate Floor Transcripts”

Exhibit U-2:    Senate’s March 6, 2014 response

Exhibit V-1:    CJA’s March 3, 2014 records request to Senate – “RE: Legislative Law Article 6: ‘Internal Control Responsibilities of the State Legislature’

Exhibit V-2:    CJA’s March 3, 2014 records request to Senate – “RE: Resolution referred to by Rule VIII, §8 of the Senate Rules adopted June 9, 2009”

Exhibit V-3:    CJA’s March 3, 2014 records request to Senate – “RE: Staffing pursuant to Senate Rule X, §8”

Exhibit V-4:    Senate’s March 10, 2014 response

click here for full record:
citizen-taxpayer action - CJA v. Cuomo

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