Posted on 11/09/2005 1:58:41 AM PST by Kaslin
And it can be done to an insane judge who is nonetheless performing good behavior. And, to my mind, it ought to be done to judges who take the job of the legislature upon themselves. That's bad behavior in my book.
And who decides when they've gone too far? That's right. The House of Representatives.
It isn't my opinion but that of the Founders.
Impeachment was intended to be a drastic solution of last resort not a plaything in the hands of a mob.
You asked:"Why in the world would you turn out a judge because the lawmakers voted in a pay raise?"
It is because the culture in Harrisburg is corrupt and just about everyone up there is OUT OF TOUCH with what real people do and the expenses we deal with.
Read this article from the Pittsburgh Trib-Review - highlights below:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_376227.html
"We learned that Justice Russell Nigro must be afflicted with some obscure neuromuscular disorder that apparently prevents him from discussing legal matters without clutching a fork.
How else to explain the 115 meals for which Nigro billed taxpayers, many at upscale Philadelphia restaurants where the tab occasionally topped $400?
(There is no explanation as to why Nigro also expensed three bottles of wine, one costing $89, other than the obvious -- a fine merlot is far superior to Diet Dr. Pepper, particularly when someone else is paying for it.)"
and
Pa.'s top judges rack up $164K in expenses
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_375492.html
"HARRISBURG -- The state's seven Supreme Court justices last year billed taxpayers for a total of $164,000 in food, travel and lodging expenses that included $300 dinners, $1,766 to frame an office picture and an $85 bottle of wine, according to a published report.
The seven justices each charged from $13,737 to $36,894 in expenses last year, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Sunday.
Pennsylvania's justices are among the highest paid in the nation, each earning more than $170,000 a year. They also enjoy an uncapped expense account in addition to their salary and a $17,000 benefits package that includes long-term care insurance, health benefits and up to $600 a month for the lease of a vehicle.
Last year, Justice Thomas Saylor charged taxpayers for 34 car washes."
THAT IS WHY we would vote to turn out a judge. Not to mention that he is a lib dem from Philly....
Some comments by the soon to be FORMER Justice:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_377253.html
"I am sitting on the Supreme Court and I took an oath to do the right thing," Justice Nigro said in a telephone interview. "I left private practice making substantial amounts of money and I did not do it to have dinners I could charge off to the taxpayers."
Nigro thought it improper to comment whether the pay-jacking is unconstitutional since he might have to rule on it. But then he could not stop talking about it, especially how the justices' automatic pay raises are based on what federal judges are paid.
"I think it is fair to the taxpayers in the commonwealth and I think it is fair for us," Nigro said.
Great compilation of news accounts. I particularily enjoy the part about the $600 per month for a car lease. Can't have our jurists riding in anything other than an Escalade.
ping
It felt mighty good to flip those 'no' levers! But now what I want to know is how do we get a constitutional convention?
She can thank her lucky stars because of him. She retained that seat by the skin of her teeth. Plus some who voted for her did not want Fast Eddie to appoint 2 dem justices to the court.
I blame her retention on the X-chromosome sympathy vote.
Amen to your post! We made our voices heard.
Now to throw out the rest of the rascals next year--the legislators who voted themselves this raise.
We Pennsylvanians turned a major corner in politics yesterday. We claimed the power of the people in a legal, non-violent way.
With our votes, we erected a symbolic guillotine in Market Square in Harrisburg.
Greedy legislators, proceed at your own risk!
I'm in the Philadelphia suburbs in a 2:1 Republican majority voters precinct...and the vote went toward retention of both. But don't take away credit of those of us who didn't vote that way...our votes counted, too, even if we're surrounded by idiots. :-)
I wouldn't argue with that except to point out "the depression" you speak of won't be reported on by their co-conspirators in the media.......
I'm not so sure that the calls helped her.
In my area -- conservative, she got her butt kicked.
In the City of Pittsburgh, she won -- BUT, they voted out the Democrat Nigro.
Go figure.
Posts #18 and #19 explain a lot of it.
Another thing that really hurt them was the recent disclosure of $400 dinners charged to the taxpayers on a routine basis along with $85 bottles of wine and other extravagances. They have, with the collusion of the legislature and the executive branch made themselves a power unto themselves. They are all serving bastards who have trampled the Constitution to enrich and empower themselves.
The judges were the first ones to face the voters and they are the first to pay the price. The legislators are next.
You will. Also look for it in parades and in the district of any legislator who tries to not give back the money that they already took. In some cases, this already amounts to $10 Grand.
For the soon to be EX-Justice's comments, go here: (Registration required)
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13130452.htm
some highlights:
"It doesn't make any difference whether you're good, bad or indifferent - you're gone," said Nigro in summing up the unprecedented action by voters. "What they did was an irrational thing. They sent a misguided missile."
"Nigro's defeat stunned the legal community in Philadelphia and surrounding counties. Judges seeking retention traditionally are reelected by wide margins."
""It was never about my record," he said. "Nobody was talking about my record. I believe the public was so angry with the legislature they became blinded. They said: 'We don't care. Get rid of him.'"
ME: What about your record of $400 dinners and $80 bottles of wine that you charged to the taxpayer?
"Nigro enlisted several former bar chancellors to raise a $1 million war chest."
ME: Yeah - a laywer would have to be pretty dumb to NOT give big $$$ to the campaign of a State Supreme Court Justice!!!!!
""I'm not angry," he added. "I'm deeply disappointed. I feel I put all these years in and didn't get any credit for it.""
ME: No, you were compensated for all your years in - and well fed, and got to drive around in vehicles paid for with taxpayer $$$.
"He will be out of a job in January. He said he did not yet have any plans for the future."
ME: This is the same guy that said he gave up a VERY lucrative law practice for public service.
"Nigro noted that all the state's lawmakers, who recently moved toward rescinding their controversial pay raise, will still have their jobs.
"What did they really accomplish?" Nigro asked, speaking again of the voters. "I don't know what they thought they accomplished by knocking me out of the box."""
ME: Let's just hope those legislators feel the same way he does a year from now.......
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