Catanise v. Town of Fayette
| Court | New York Supreme Court Appellate Division |
| Writing for the Court | Before BOOMER; BALIO |
| Citation | 148 A.D.2d 210,543 N.Y.S.2d 825 |
| Parties | Matter of Richard J. CATANISE, Appellant, v. TOWN OF FAYETTE, Gail Abbott, Frederick Jensen, Gladys Schultz, William Judd and Robert H. Sorenson, Individually and Collectively as the Town Board of the Town of Fayette, Respondents. |
| Decision Date | 12 July 1989 |
Page 825
v.
TOWN OF FAYETTE, Gail Abbott, Frederick Jensen, Gladys
Schultz, William Judd and Robert H. Sorenson,
Individually and Collectively as the
Town Board of the Town of
Fayette, Respondents.
Fourth Department.
John A. De Francisco, Syracuse, for appellant.
Kirk & Mount by William Kirk, Waterloo, for respondents.
Before [148 A.D.2d 213] BOOMER, J.P., and PINE, BALIO, LAWTON and DAVIS, JJ.
[148 A.D.2d 211] BALIO, Justice.
Petitioner is a Town Justice of the Town of Fayette in Seneca County. He instituted this article 78 proceeding to challenge the decision of the Town Board to reduce his annual salary from $5,000 to $3,000 prior to commencement of the third year of a four-year term. His claim that a reduction in salary during his term of office amounted to an unconstitutional encroachment upon the independence of the judiciary was rejected by Special Term, and judgment was entered dismissing the petition. We affirm that portion of the judgment dismissing petitioner's request for punitive damages (see, Sharapata v. Town of Islip, 56 N.Y.2d 332, 452 N.Y.S.2d 347, 437 N.E.2d 1104) and attorney fees (see, Matter of A.G. Ship Maintenance Corp. v. Lezak, 69 N.Y.2d 1, 511 N.Y.S.2d 216, 503 N.E.2d 681). We conclude, however, that reduction of a town justice's annual salary during the term of office violates fundamental principles of separation of powers and that the petition should be granted to the extent of reinstating petitioner's salary.
In 1940, the Court of Appeals held that a justice of the peace 1 was a constitutional officer whose compensation could not be increased or decreased during the term of office (Town of Putnam Valley v. Slutzky, 283 N.Y. 334, 28 N.E.2d 860, rearg denied 284 N.Y. 590, 29 N.E.2d 665; see also, Giuffreda v. Stout, 220 N.Y.S.2d 215 [Supreme Court, Suffolk County]. At that time, however, article VI, section 19 of the N.Y. Constitution provided,
"All judges, justices and surrogates shall receive for their services such compensation as is now or may hereafter be established by law, provided only that such compensation shall not be diminished during their respective terms of office...."
When this section of article VI was revised by the Legislature and adopted by the People in 1961 as section 25 of article VI, the new section provided,
"a. The compensation of a judge of the court of appeals, a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of claims, a judge of the county court, a judge of the surrogate's court, a judge of the family court, a judge of a court for
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the city of New York ..., a judge of the district court or of a retired judge or justice shall be established by law and shall not be diminished during the term of office for which he was elected or appointed...."Absent from the list of judges and justices is reference to...
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Benjamin v. Town of Fenton, Civ. No. 94-CV-1631 (FJS).
...Justice's elective term constitutes an impermissible encroachment upon the independence of the judiciary." Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825 (1989). At that time both Justices were midterm — Justice Benjamin's term would conclude at the end of 1994 and Justice Ma......
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Suttlehan v. Town of New Windsor
...N.Y.S.2d 574, 720 N.E.2d 850;Emerling v. Village of Hamburg, 255 A.D.2d 960, 961, 680 N.Y.S.2d 37;Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 212, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825;cf. [953 N.Y.S.2d 280]Roe v. Board of Trustees of Vil. of Bellport, 65 A.D.3d 1211, 1212, 886 N.Y.S.2d 707). Moreove......
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Suttlehan v. Town of New Windsor
...Matter of Kelch v. Town Bd. of Town of Davenport, 36 A.D.3d 1110, 1111, 829 N.Y.S.2d 250 [2007]; Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825 [1989] )" ( Roe v. Bd. of Trustees of Village of Bellport, 65 A.D.3d 1211, 1212, 886 N.Y.S.2d 707 [2d Dept., 2009] [dealin......
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Taney v. Town of Waterloo
...of a Town Justice's salary, however, is properly the subject of a CPLR article 78 proceeding (see, Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825; see also, Press v. County of Monroe, 50 N.Y.2d 695, 701-702, 431 N.Y.S.2d 394, 409 N.E.2d The court erred in rejecting ......
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Benjamin v. Town of Fenton, Civ. No. 94-CV-1631 (FJS).
...Justice's elective term constitutes an impermissible encroachment upon the independence of the judiciary." Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825 (1989). At that time both Justices were midterm — Justice Benjamin's term would conclude at the end of 1994 and Justice Ma......
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Suttlehan v. Town of New Windsor
...N.Y.S.2d 574, 720 N.E.2d 850;Emerling v. Village of Hamburg, 255 A.D.2d 960, 961, 680 N.Y.S.2d 37;Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 212, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825;cf. [953 N.Y.S.2d 280]Roe v. Board of Trustees of Vil. of Bellport, 65 A.D.3d 1211, 1212, 886 N.Y.S.2d 707). Moreove......
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Suttlehan v. Town of New Windsor
...Matter of Kelch v. Town Bd. of Town of Davenport, 36 A.D.3d 1110, 1111, 829 N.Y.S.2d 250 [2007]; Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825 [1989] )" ( Roe v. Bd. of Trustees of Village of Bellport, 65 A.D.3d 1211, 1212, 886 N.Y.S.2d 707 [2d Dept., 2009] [dealin......
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Taney v. Town of Waterloo
...of a Town Justice's salary, however, is properly the subject of a CPLR article 78 proceeding (see, Matter of Catanise v. Town of Fayette, 148 A.D.2d 210, 543 N.Y.S.2d 825; see also, Press v. County of Monroe, 50 N.Y.2d 695, 701-702, 431 N.Y.S.2d 394, 409 N.E.2d The court erred in rejecting ......