Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Albany Times Union that leaders of the the state Supreme Court Officers Association, and the state Court Officers Association both on Aug. 21 urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to start an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations that seemed buried by the Office of Court Administration. Last week, a female attorney, Alexis Marquez, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week. Marquez claims she was demoted and then fired from her job as a law clerk after accusing acting state Supreme Court Justice Douglas Hoffman of harassment. The lawsuit says the state's top judicial officials condone “a widespread culture of silence and retaliation.” Pat Cullen, president of the state Supreme Court Officers Association, and Dennis Quirk, president of the state Court Officers Association both want an independent investigation. "The lack of transparency and lack of independent spirit in an investigatory body, whether it be ours or any other agency, is troubling," Cullen said. Read the full story in the Albany Times Union.