These
same judges are facing pressure to
dispense justice more swiftly and
efficiently in the wake of a 2003
blue ribbon report that blasted Massachusetts
courts as “mired in managerial confusion.”
For
some, conferences aren’t the answer.
The golf resort seminars raised the
hackles of Alan Jay Rom, head of the
nonprofit Massachusetts Appleseed
Center for Law and Justice.
“Certainly
you don’t go off to lavish country
clubs when people are suffering and
people don’t have access,” Rom said.
“That should be clear as a bell.”
Meanwhile,
the state judges are pushing lawmakers
on Beacon Hill for a 12 percent boost
to their $112,777 annual pay.
“If
you wanted to be kind, you would compare
them to the state lawmakers who take
their conferences on the coast of
Spain,” quipped Barbara Anderson,
executive director of Citizens for
Limited Taxation. “At least they are
staying in the state.”
Mulligan
defended the Cape and Berkshire educational
jaunts, calling the biannual meetings
a tradition that stretches back more
than a century.
State
courts spokeswoman Joan Kenney also
noted that superior court judges pay
a $30 out-of-pocket fee at their conferences.
Mulligan says the conferences are
intense legal education forums. A
recent Cranwell stay featured seminars
entitled “sentencing scenarios with
videos” and “post verdict issues.”
Mulligan
said he has also used the forums to
roll out his agenda for increasing
courthouse efficiency.
“We
go to these places off season,” Mulligan
said. “I am not sure people really
want to stay at the Wequassett Inn
on Dec. 1. It may sound hollow to
some people, but it’s a sacrifice
to go to these.”
“These are not events where people
are doing anything but working hard,”
Mulligan said.