Miscellaneous

Judging Pay

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Chief Justice Roberts is doing what any top judge in a jurisdiction does: asking the legislature for money.

Judges try hard to avoid "the appearance of impropriety." Asking for a raise during tough times may not rise to this level, but it may not pass the red-face test, either.

What's the loss? Paul Cassell left the bench due to low salaries (be nice). Most won't step down, though, because people who want to be judges don't do it for the money. They do it to satisfy their love of public service, to be able to make a difference, and to never worry about billable hours or what to wear again!

But if we're going to have co-equal branches, let's have them. When Congress gets a raise, federal judges' salaries should also rise.

As for state and municipal court judges -- haven't they suffered enough? We ask them to judge cases, of course, but we also ask that they act as teachers, parents, referees, counselors, therapists, and umpires. We ask them to do "more with less" every single budget cycle. Now their benefits are on the butcher block and salaries are frozen.

See Fair Pay for Judges, Washington Post (January 4, 2009); County to Evaluate Benefits for Judges, Lauren McSherry, San Bernardino Sun (January 1, 2009); L.A. County Judges May Face a Cut in Pay, Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times (January 3, 2009).

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, legislators and judges alike are due for a mandatory raise. See Judges Must Accept Pay Increases in 2009, Jack Zemlicka, Wisconsin Law Journal (January 2, 2009). (A mandatory raise is what happens when legislators want to avoid the appearance of responsibility.)

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on January 04, 2009 (boomark / email).