Chief Justice John Roberts Decries Congress' Inaction On Judicial Pay Raise

All Headline News ^ | January 1, 2009 | Kris Alingod

[wagglebee]

That doesn’t mean the District Judges don’t make decisons, rightly or wrongly, on constitutional issues at the District level, because they surely do.

They just have no meaning outside of that courtroom.

You are, of course, correct. My point is that most people on this thread seem to believe that ALL federal judges make constitutional rulings that are binding and this is patently false.

[Arguendo]

A federal judgeship is a prestigious position, and many qualified candidates are attracted despite the low salary. But there are some--particularly those who are not independently wealthy and are trying to raise families in areas where $170k doesn't go that far--who are unwilling to give up hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for the "prestige" and lifestyle. One of the brightest stars we had on the courts, J. Michael Luttig, recently left for a position at Boeing where he's probably making well over a million dollars a year.

Given the extremely low cost of a raise compared to what we spend on government programs that are far less important than the judiciary, I think it would be reasonable to pay judges significantly more than we do now--perhaps double what they're making.

[Arguendo]

Would it be better if he resigned to take a private-sector job paying 10 times what we pay him, allowing Obama to replace him?

Or alternatively, he could take on as much work as possible on the side, distracting him from his court work and possibly comflicting him out of important cases, but making him a lot of money. Would this be a good idea?