Roberts blasts inadequate pay for judges

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | December 31, 2006 | PETE YOST

[indcons]

Pay for federal judges is so inadequate that it threatens to undermine the judiciary's independence, Chief Justice John Roberts says in a year-end report critical of Congress.

Issuing an eight-page message devoted exclusively to salaries, Roberts says the 678 full-time U.S. District Court judges, the backbone of the federal judiciary, are paid about half that of deans and senior law professors at top schools.

In the 1950s, 65 percent of U.S. District Court judges came from the practicing bar and 35 percent came from the public sector. Today the situation is reversed, Roberts said, with 60 percent from the public sector and less than 40 percent from private practice.

Federal district court judges are paid $165,200 annually; appeals court judges make $175,100; associate justices of the Supreme Court earn $203,000; the chief justice gets $212,100.

Thirty-eight judges have left the federal bench in the past six years and 17 in the past two years.

The issue of pay, says Roberts, "has now reached the level of a constitutional crisis."

"Inadequate compensation directly threatens the viability of life tenure, and if tenure in office is made uncertain, the strength and independence judges need to uphold the rule of law - even when it is unpopular to do so - will be seriously eroded," Roberts wrote.

[dakine]

"As with ANY FEDERAL WORKER.. Being a federal worker is a license to steal..

The HealthCARE AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS(plus other perks) are Obscene.."


Aren't the Military Federal Workers?

[GovernmentShrinker]

That depends an awful lot on where the judge lives. $200,000/year doesn't go far in NYC (and many other big cities), where a tiny studio apartment sells for $250,000 or more, and the public schools are dangerous and academically hopeless thus necessitating $30,000/year private school for each child, and city taxes boost the total income tax bill to over 40%.

[freedomfiter2]

I like that. And maybe some H1-B visas are needed for this crisis. Bring in a ton more lawyers from foreign lands to bring down the costs of administering justice.

If they are going to rule based on international law anyhow, why not.

[GovernmentShrinker]

When they start showing a commitment to being judges is when I'll start caring about their pay.

It doesn't work that way. You get the competent, committed people AFTER you offer a competitive salary.

[Earthdweller]

"But this is why we get the kinds of people we do. Really great minds, who can make double or triple that in the private sector, and who don't crave the power (the ones we REALLY want), won't take the pay cut."

That stinks.

[hosepipe]

[ Aren't the Military Federal Workers? ]

Yes... about the only ones I support, fully..

[freedomfiter2]

necessitating $30,000/year private school for each child,

They could do a good job of homeschooling for under a thousand per year.

[Hildy]

That's fascinating about your Father. I just did a search and it said it cost the Government 12 billion dollars to invent GPS. Imagine if your Dad was in the private sector! Did he ever received any acknowledgement? Anything?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Judges are appointed by politicians. It's not a free market.

Politicians can only appoint people who are willing to take the job. It IS a free market, and therefore few highly competent and ethical people are willing to take these jobs.

[ModelBreaker]

Well if they're in it for the money then they can always resign and go elsewhere.

The key thing is who this arrangement drives to the judiciary. Note that most judges now come from the "public" sector. That means former gvt employees, public interest lawyers, ngo employees--the exact people you don't want sitting a judges. We should be paying enuf to attract good private attorneys. They actually represent real clients on real matters.

[freedomfiter2]

Some of these plumbers would no doubt be better federal judges than some of the current ones (the Ninth Circus comes to mind), but why would they want to drop 4 years (or 8 years in the case of the many plumbers who have only a high school education) out of their earning years, and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on getting a law school education, so that they can resume work at a job where they'd earn LESS than they currently do?


I don't think a degree is required for a SCOTUS appointment. Come to think of it, we'd probably be better off with one justice that has only a background as a tradesman just to occasionally point out that the emporer has no clothes.

[Non-Sequitur]

They do. That's the problem. Then they're replaced largely by much less competent people, who don't have the ability to earn more than these salaries elsewhere.

So if they ranks of judges are being filled with people who don't have the ability to earn more elsewhere, then wouldn't that have to mean that the judges they're replacing were also people who didn't have the ability to earn more elsewhere? Isn't the whole judiciary a bunch of boobs who couldn't make it in the real world? At least by your definition?

[KarlInOhio]

Pleae tell me what private industry employs judges.

American Idol!!!!!

I would love to hear Scalia say "Those are the worst arguments I've ever heard. Who dressed you this morning because you are obviously too stupid to dress youself?"

[GovernmentShrinker]

Perhaps more to the point, people who believe that they shouldn't be compensated at competitive, free market rates, tend to be LEFTISTS. Wonder why we have so many leftist judges? Because the compensation system makes sense to people who believe the Marxist mantra "from each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs". Pay competitive, capitalist rates, and you'll get judges who believe in the free market, which is largely a proxy for believing in Constitutional liberty.

[Earthdweller]

"They could do a good job of homeschooling for under a thousand per year."

Do Catholics homeschool much? I'm thinking most of the homeschool programs are geared toward the Protestant. Not sure, obviously.

[satan]

"Your premise is invalid. Judges are appointed by politicians. It's not a free market."

Well said. If we increase the judge's pay we allow the politicians to offer even a bigger bribe with the judgeship.

Cut their pay in half - they make too much already.

[new2NV]

I think the real issue may be that people in public service or medical, etc... Have created the problem for themselves. In which they regard their intelligence or aptitude for their profession to be privileged to the Omnipotent. Therefore creating the extreme cost of education, and then being able to live amongst their counterparts and many times enemies. Without who they would have no need for the knowledge to begin with. So we pay the teachers, not the principalities or conglamorates. Then people with apptitude would evolve to do the better good or benefit of The People, which would include themselves. Does anyone think if these positions didn't compensate so well, that perhaps the cost of education would drop considerably? Would definitely ensure that the people teaching the ones we depend on would have all the "tools for the trade so to speak." Stop worrying about the property value as the neighborhood will certainly collapse around you. That's free market right? Knowing how tame the almighty dollar machine.

[new2NV]

Maybe it shouldn't be a full-time position. Appointments on a voluntary basis for say six month or one year terms, perhaps by the case. So private practices would be maintained. Also no more lifetime salaries, pro bono, for the sake of good law.

[new2NV]

Your force them to do 1 case terms and don't pay anyone.

[Thermalseeker]

How do you place a price on ego?

What kind of bennies do Federal judges get? Are they similar to congresscritters? Free health care, salary for life, etc? The value of whatever bennies they get should be added to whatever the monetary pay is so the real amount of compensation could be known.

Personally, I think being a judge in this country is about as close to being God as one can get...