New York: New York Chief Appellate Justice Jonathan Lippman delivered his annual State of the Judiciary address on Tuesday February 15, 2011 touching on such sensitive areas as the court's proposed budget and court reforms to ensure more accountability and better accuracy with convictions. Justice Lippman again expressed the need for increased funding to the Judiciary, arguing that as an independent branch of the government, the Judiciary requires sufficient funding to fulfill their obligations to the people of New York. Lippman argued that if the proposed cuts to the judiciary budget went through, the court may face mandatory closures in order to operate within their means. In addition, Lippman called for additional funding from the budget to provide lawyers for low income families facing foreclosure.
In addition to budgetary matters Lippman advocated implementing new checks and balances on the judiciary to prevent conflicts of interest and insure valid convictions. These measures include increasing funding for the collection of DNA from individuals who commit lesser crimes, preventing judges from hearing cases from lawyers who contributed to their election campaign funds and placing more stringent requirements on the use of photos for the identification of criminals to prevent investigators from providing information to the witness.[1]
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