Free Republic

It appears Pennsylvania judges aren't the only ones whining about their pay. Federal judges are now making noise about their paychecks. Maybe they should learn from Pennsylvania judges' experiences when it comes to asking taxpayers to shell out more money. If you'll recall, the infamous July 2005 middle-of-the-night pay raise for Pennsylvania politicians and judges was hatched up by Gov. Ed Rendell, legislative leaders (most of whom have been voted out of office) and Ralph Cappy, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Cappy's court eventually ruled that the way the legislators took the pay raise (something called unvouchered expenses)...

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy told senators Wednesday that Congress has neglected judicial pay, harming morale among judges and threatening to undermine judicial independence. The current salary level for judges "is insufficient to attract the finest members" of the legal profession to accept appointments to the bench, Kennedy said during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kennedy picked up on an issue that Chief Justice John Roberts recently called a "constitutional crisis."