New York State court leaders abandon controversial court consolidation plan

The contentious proposal to restructure New York’s court system, initiated by former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been abandoned by current court leaders. This marks a pivotal shift in policy for the state’s judiciary, the Queens Eagle reports.

Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, who assumed office following DiFiore’s abrupt resignation last year, has made it clear he will not be advocating for the significant changes initially proposed.

The scrapped plan aimed to streamline New York’s vast court organization into a more consolidated structure, a task that was met with opposition. Despite periodic calls for reform, the court system, which has remained largely static for decades, will likely persist in its current form for the foreseeable future.

“Our priority is to work with the governor, legislature and local governments to improve the delivery of justice by our court system within the current structure,” OCA’s spokesperson Lucian Chalfen told the Eagle. “Although some improvements may require constitutional amendments, we are not interested in pursuing a broad restructuring of the courts.”

State Senator and Judiciary Committee Chair Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who previously supported the restructuring, has no plans to reintroduce a similar constitutional amendment to the one he advocated on behalf of DiFiore in 2022. The proposed amendments included the unification of several court sectors into one Supreme Court with six divisions, and a provision requiring consideration of diversity in all judicial appointments.

The initial plan received significant backlash from various judges’ associations. Several, including the Associations of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State and City of New York, accused DiFiore and the Office of Court Administration of attempting a power grab. They objected to the proposed creation of a “chief…