Courts

Ex-New York Top Judge Still Gets State-Funded Chauffeurs Despite Bouncing From The Job

State court spokesperson says no rules are being broken.

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Your ride is here…Cropped shot of an unrecognizable male chauffeur opening a car doorIt is not typical for former New York chief judges to continue to receive the perks of employment — specifically state-funded personal chauffeurs and protection detail. Certainly the two prior former chief judges, Jonathan Lippman and Judith Kaye, did not receive this benefit. And yet, as detailed in reporting by Law360, that’s what’s happening.

“Personal use of a state vehicle is prohibited,” a 2018 state court policy memo states. “A state vehicle may be used only for official state business.”

The memo further states that “a state vehicle may never be used to transport passengers unless they are state employees engaged in official business or non-state employees engaged in official business with state employees.”

Yet the former chief judge continues to enjoy access to a daily car service by a rotating team of on-duty court officers, according to sources. Law360 observed two court officers out of uniform waiting outside her luxury Westchester apartment complex by a black car earlier this month. DiFiore exited her residence and climbed into the back seat of the black SUV before it drove away.

Earlier this year, DiFiore stepped down from her role on New York’s top court, having served less than half of the 14-year term of the position. At the time of her resignation, DiFiore was facing ethics charges. She has said the ethics case against her did not influence her decision to leave the job. However, her resignation did effectively end the ethics case.

State courts spokesperson Lucian Chalfen did not provide many details when asked about this arrangement, but insisted no rules were being broken:

“While we do not discuss security arrangements, the type and level of security is determined by law enforcement personnel in our Department of Public Safety, not individual Judges,” Chalfen said.”Unfortunately, but not surprisingly in the current environment, the determination was made in this situation that a continued presence is necessary for the former Chief Judge.”

The cost of the security detail for the former judge adds up:

While it’s unclear what the total cost of DiFiore’s detail is to taxpayers, the two officers seen on full-time duty have an annual pay rate of more than $87,000 each per year, before overtime. Any other officer on the detail would be expected to make around the same, perhaps slightly less, according to a pay schedule reviewed by Law360 and sources familiar with the work.

The officers’ three months of work since DiFiore resigned would then cost taxpayers an estimated $43,000 on the low end — solely for the officers’ time.

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DiFiore has not provided any comment on the matter.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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