Free Republic

In the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate poses a question to Jesus of Nazareth: “What is truth?” It’s a question that could also be asked about Pilate’s own history. From the perspective of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the Roman governor of Judea was a wavering judge who initially exonerated Jesus before bending to the will of the crowd and condemning him to death. By contrast, non-Biblical sources portray him as a barbarous leader who willfully defied the traditions of the Jewish people he oversaw. Which was the truth?

First in Detroit, then in Stockton, Calif., and now in New Jersey, judges and other top officials are challenging the widespread belief that public pensions are untouchable. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey delivered the latest blow on Tuesday, when he proposed to freeze that state’s public pension plans and move workers into new ones intended not to overwhelm future budgets or impose open-ended demands on taxpayers. The first crack came in Detroit, where a judge ruled that public pensions could, in fact, be reduced, at least in bankruptcy. Then, just a few weeks ago, an opinion by the bankruptcy...