What blows my mind is that in Florida right after the 2000 election fiasco, the next time FLSC judges came up for retention they all won by large margins. Sigh.
"Why in the world would you turn out a judge because the lawmakers voted in a pay raise?"
There was a lot of behind the scenes stuff about this pay hike that out of staters don't know. Why pick on the judges? Because one of the people that Rendell sent out to tell the electorate what a good deal this pay hike was for them was a judge named Ralph Cappy, who said stupid things like [on why judges need so much more money] "How would they send their kids to college?" Their childrens college is no more my problem than my children's college is theirs. The elected (and appointed) class in this state need a wake up call, and the time is now. Throw the bums out, every single one of them.
Because the justices have supported the illegal pay raises in their decisions and the Chief Justice was one of the moving forces behind the whole pay raise idea. He was intimately involved in the negotiations and discussions before the legislature passed this scheme.
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....