It seemed that the flap over some judges' decision not to take unpaid furlough days had died down in the past week: The Judicial Branch announced last Friday that all but a few of the 26 state jurists who didn't take furloughs in the past year had heeded calls from Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase Rogers to reconsider their decision, and to make up the days.
However, the issue has arisen anew -- in the form of an unusual letter this week to the governor from Supreme Court Justice Joette Katz. Katz is one of four Supreme Court justices who, along with 22 other lower-court judges, had decided at first not to take three unpaid furlough days during the past fiscal year, from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.
Nearly all of the state's 55,000 employees were required by law or labor agreement to take those three days, as well as one day prior to July 1, 2009, and three more days by next June 30 -- for a total of seven unpaid furlough days.
Katz, in her letter to Rell, explained her reasons for initially deciding not to take the furlough days and for changing that decision recently.
Katz was critical of Rell's decision to appoint nine new judges this past spring "despite the fact that far fewer were needed, particularly at a a time when courthouses in some locations and libraries in others were being targeted for closure." She called the appointments "unnecessary," and said "the timing of these appointments was unfortunate."