Posted on 01/03/2006 3:23:28 PM PST by new yorker 77
WASHINGTON - In his first year-end assessment of the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts urged Congress to increase judicial pay to help keep good judges on the bench and to recruit new ones.
Roberts, who succeeded the late William Rehnquist, warned Congress that judges' pay is an issue that is driving them off the bench and deterring qualified lawyers from throwing their names into consideration for judgeships.
"A strong and independent judiciary is not something that, once established, maintains itself," Roberts wrote. "It is instead a trust that every generation is called upon to preserve, and the values it secures can be lost as readily through neglect as direct attack."
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported recently that pay rates beginning Jan. 1 are $175,100 for circuit judges, $165,200 for district judges and $151,984 for bankruptcy and full-time magistrate judges. Rates for members of the Supreme Court are $212,100 for the chief justice and $203,000 for associate justices.
Roberts said judges are leaving the bench in greater numbers than ever before, compared with the 1960s when only a handful of federal judges retired or resigned.
Real pay for judges has declined substantially, the chief justice said. "If Congress gave judges a raise of 30 percent tomorrow, judges would - after adjusting for inflation - be making about what judges made in 1969," he wrote. "This is not fair to our nation's federal judges and should not be allowed to continue."
I say we lower the pay in order to encourage more retirements.
I say we need higher wages for Product Testers/QA Engineers.
I guess being in the top 3 to 5% income earners just doesn't cut it. Maybe some food stamps would help?
Yeah, this is the most pressing issue that the court needs to address. Give me a break, $175,000 a year puts them in the top 1% of income earners. Be realistic, John.
What's the going rate for playing God?
Now that you mention it, I wonder what God thinks the federal judiciary is worth?
I think they should consider locality pay for judges. The cost of living difference between major cities and most of the rest of the country is huge.
The pay for judges is fine for those living in middle America, or older judges who have already amassed a fortune, but it won't attract younger people in urban areas - except a few who aren't really successful lawyers.
If they can't get any Americans to do the job at these wages, maybe we can get illegal immigrants to fill the posts?
It ought to be $500K/yr. just for having to sit in the same room as Schumer for an hour.
Now that is funny. Perhaps that work could also be outsourced to India.
Pay them by the case and see how hard they are willing to work.
Sure that 175k a year may put them in the top 1%, but if they work as attorneys they can make a lot more than that.
I'd be game to give them a raise if the pension were dramatically reduced.
I agree with you. Too many activist judges will destroy this country.
So much for these assclowns being "public servants".
Is Robert's saying we've been getting what we've been paying for?
Restore the Constitution and we'll talk.
I would suggest a different kind of raise for most of them.
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