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Adam Liptak on Judicial Pay

Adam Liptak, in this New York Times editorial, discusses some of the empirical research on judicial pay.  The research proves, not surprisingly, that federal judges are not underpaid.  They might actually be overpaid.  Is anyone be surprised?Arguments in favor of judicial pay are "just because" arguments.  When you ask someone to prove why judges should be paid more, you do not get rational argument.  You do not get an appeal to facts or logic.  You are told that judges should be given a pay raise just because they should - with an exclamation point added for good measure!Liptak notes the hypocrisy of this argument:What is most interesting about the basic argument made for a judicial pay raise is that it appeals to a value that many judges resist in other contexts...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on January 19, 2009 (boomark / email).