New York’s highest court appears set to correct some very bad judging by a passel of lower court jurists who haven’t a clue as to how read a law.

If so, the Court of Appeals will come down on the side of the public’s ability to monitor how tax dollars are spent.

The Empire Center, a taxpayer watchdog, has fought a legal battle for access to the names of retired New York governmental employees along with the amounts of their pensions. The organization wants to post the data on its website SeeThroughNY.net.

This type of pension information has been available for inspection from time immemorial. And well it should be, since the taxpayers help fund retirement benefits and should be able to review how they are issued.

After the police pension system balked at turning over the names and benefits of pensioners, three trial judges and three appellate panels — a total of 16 judges — got the law wrong and permitted pension boards to withhold the information.

One statute says retirement funds may keep secret the names of pension “beneficiaries.” While the law defines beneficiaries as the surviving spouses and children of deceased pensioners, the courts misread the word to mean the retirees themselves.

The courts also got bollixed up in a high court ruling that rejected an attempt to get the names and addresses of pensioners for a mailing. The addresses made all the difference in that case. No one wants them here.

On Wednesday, the high court said it would take a look at this judicial malpractice by reviewing two unanimous appellate division rulings. Rarely does the court intervene when the lower courts are completely united on an issue, but in this instance they are united in error.

That’s why the sudden, unusual interest of the Court of Appeals is a hopeful sign that smarter judges will vindicate the public’s right to know.