Chief Justice Roberts increase our pay or expect a 'crisis'

[flashl]

Chief Justice Again Calls for Pay Raise for Judges

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Monday renewed his call for a pay increase for federal judges. A measure now moving through Congress with bipartisan support is “vital” and long overdue, the chief justice said in his annual report on the state of the federal judiciary.

This report, his third, struck a tone quite different from the one issued a year ago, which was devoted completely to the salary issue. The chief justice used sharp language then to depict a looming “constitutional crisis” if Congress did not grant a prompt and substantial raise; since 1989, Congress has withheld from the judges the cost-of-living adjustments that other federal employees have received.

The tone was softer this time. “I simply ask once again for a moment’s reflection on how America would look in the absence of a skilled and independent judiciary,” the chief justice said.

Judges have been leaving the federal bench at an increasing rate, some expressing bitterness at the fact that their law clerks can expect to outstrip them in earnings in the first year of law practice. First-year associates at some major law firms are now paid as much as $180,000, not counting bonuses.

The change in the chief justice’s tone was undoubtedly due to the fact that for the first time in years, Congress is showing signs of responsiveness.

NYTimes - Read Full Text

[Sanity Claws]

1. Maybe they'll retire and go into the private sector

Not a bad idea.

[sallyseven]

17. Sounds good to me.

Best job they ever had. Just follow the bouncing ball. Let them quit. They are not much good anyway.

[PFunk]

2. How about we cut his pay instead.

Sounds good to me.

[blogslut]

3. I am torn

If indeed, Justice Roberts is advocating for all judges, then it does seem unfair that they have not had cost-of-living pay raises that other federal employees have had. As for Roberts himself, fuck him.

[MADem]

10. Me, too.

I want a GOOD judiciary, not simply a well fed one. And I'd like them to be deciding cases that included defendants and jurors who also make a "living wage."

[depakid]

4. Bring it on!

That's a sure fire way to get the wrong sorts of people off of their lifetime appointments....

[Benhurst]

5. Let 'em all quit.

The next president can appoint all new ones.

Don't let the door hit you on the butt on the way out, boys!

[DemKR]

6. He can resign n/t

[Donnachaidh]

7. wasn't he the clown asking for an end-run around raises by asking for a *per diem*?

I seem to recall Cspan showed a hearing about this within the last few months. It was either him or Scalia whining about how underpaid they were. :nopity:

Hey -- can't live on the salary -- QUIT. Don't expect to live in the lap of luxury while you destroy the judicial system.

[bowens43]

8. All conservatives are scum.

Can this idiot be impeached?

[napi21]

9. I think most people could get along just fine on $180,000, then

you have that nice little bonus too! If they can't, then they can go get another job! Maybe that's a gooid way to gt rid of all the Bushbuddies that he managed to stuff into our system!

[noamnety]

11. This is a rhetorical question, right?

"I simply ask once again for a moment’s reflection on how America would look in the absence of a skilled and independent judiciary."

[krispos42]

30. Bush v. Gore

And all those anti-Constitutional rulings of the past seven years.


Mass appointment of political lackeys has ruined the "skilled and independent judiciary", Roberts included.

Just look outside your window, Roberts. See all those people on the streets? The ones being warrantlessly wiretapped on phonecalls, text messages, emails, web surfing, and internet chat? See the ones without the right to habeas corpus? See the ones that can be declared a "suspected terrorist" without judicial review?

That's every person on the street, Roberts. And that's what the absence of a skilled and independent judiciary looks like. And you're not helping at all.

"Only" $180,000 dollars a year.

Wanna switch jobs with me, Chief Justice? Can you operate a bandsaw quickly and efficiently? How good are you as deburring machined parts?

I'd sure like to make five or six or seven times my current salary and only have to work a few months out of the year.

[Ravy]

12. He sees what America looks like without an independent judiciary

whenever he looks in the mirror. How is that for a moment's reflection???

[NewJeffCT]

13. How about you resign in protest?

say, in February of 2009?

[TreasonousBastard]

14. All you clowns can smirk if you want, but...

180 grand isn't that much in the real world. I know dockworkers who do better than that, and the local cops do almost as well.

We're not talking local hacks here, running for a county bench because their ambulance chasing isn't doing too well. Anyone with the knowledge and skills to be a Federal judge can do far better financially outside in a private firm. Many have done well and are serving to cap a legal career, but insulting them with lower pay isn't really the way to go. Or to get the beter judges.

[bemildred]

20. "a Federal judge can do far better financially outside in a private firm"

Let them. The last thing we need is a bunch of self-centered greedheads in the judiciary. If they can't or won't live on $180K for the privilege of being a federal judge, than they need to look for other work.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. So, being a judge is now volunteer work? Kinda...

like being in the volunteer fire department?

Must be another part of DU besides the part that says you should get paid for what you do for a living.

[bemildred]

22. $180K a year with full benefits is hardly volunteering.

Most working stiffs would give several small body parts for that, but this swine Roberts thinks he's getting a raw deal. And it is hardly "not getting paid".

[TreasonousBastard]

25. We're not talking about working stiffs, we're talking..

about lawyers who are giving up a few million to take this job.

[trumad]

27. Dude are you serious...

My wife makes about that and she's loaded. We certainly live comfortable with 180 a year.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. the issue is that they have not been given Cost of Living raises

which they should have received

And no, being a Federal judge ain't easy.

I am amazed, people want a government that works... but are not willing to pay for it?

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. $180,000 salary is considered VOLUNTEER pay by you?

:rofl: Ridiculous. If they can't live on $180,000....find a new freakin' job.

[TreasonousBastard]

26. Well, if a lawyer can make at least a million...

outside, he is sacrificing a lot of money for the job.

How would you like to take a job for the "honor" of it at 20%, or less, of what you're making now?

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. No one forced them to take the job. That was a CHOICE they made. Their choice,

their problem. If $180,000 doesn't support their extravagant lifestyles...quit and go work in a law firm and earn the millions.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. We want a government that works, we need to pay for it

yes, it is that simple.

Give them the cost of living allowance that every other federal employee gets

[in_cog_ni_to]

45. Maybe after the working middle class gets their cost of living allowance, the Judges can have a

COL wage increase. Who needs it worse?

[Occulus]

42. Oh, let me turn your "argument" on its head

I'm a Federal empoloyee whom these very same judges depend upon to move their orders to the citizenry. Without me and people like me, subpoenas would not reach those who are being ordered to appear, notices of fines would never get sent, and the entire court system would very literally come crashing to a halt.

I currently make ~$48,000 a year, but judging by the importance of my job- and this is on a national scale, not just a single court district- I deserve a $180,000 salary.

Discuss.

(The exact job I do is irrelevant, but it's so important I'm legally forbidden from going on strike.)

[DisgustipatedinCA]

28. Not all of us live in the Hamptons, you know n/t

.

[krispos42]

31. I'm sure there are a huge load of federal employees that could do better in the private sector

Army and Marine grunts could work for Blackwater at six times their Pentagon pay. Federal department secretaries could make far more as a CEO of some company or another. EPA scientists could make more working for DuPont or Dow.

That's not the point. It's a public-sector job. It should be filled by dedicated people that want to serve the public and the nation, not ones that want to make a lot of money. Look how that's working in Homeland Security. It's turned into a revolving door of people who work there for a year, then get a job as a 'consultant' for a contracting company that sucks off the teat of DHS.

If they couldn't use DHS as a step to big money, they would never even apply. And if DHS brought up their pay to the "consultant" level, it would be run by a bunch of uncaring people concerned with their own bank accounts and career advancement and Washington cocktail parties.

What you're talking about here is the same cascade of pay that occured in the '80s among CEOs.

[dysfunctional press]

41. "180 grand isn't that much in the real world"

great...i just found out that i've been living my entire life in a phony world.

well, that blows.

[JDPriestly]

43. The judges and justices are employees, our employees.

The law that applies to other employees applies to them. They do not have the "right" to be compensated fairly. If they don't like their pay, they have the same "right" we do to look for new jobs.

The federal judges and Supreme Court justices are virtually the only employees or working people in America whose employment "contracts" if you will guarantee that they can be fired only with extremely good cause -- for as long as they live.

That "right" to continued employment terminable only upon good cause has a financial value. The judges and justices do not have to worry about facing periods of unemployment, no pay, lay-offs, or other interruptions in their income. As a result, they have excellent credit and get all kinds of advantages. On top of it all, they get excellent insurance benefits and, if they do decide to retire, pensions. All of those perks count toward their compensation.

Unlike legislators who are in the same salary range, the judges and justices do not have to run for office, do not have to maintain two homes, one in their district or state and another in D.C. and do not have to pay for the transportation home and back to D.C. every week or so.

If the judges and justices don't think the employment laws that give their employer total control over their pay scales, they should from a union and bargain for a better deal -- under the same rules that other American working people have to play by. Or, unlike other Americans, they can tweak the laws on employment contracts and workers' rights or even change them outright. Roberts should get with the program or get out, just like any other employee.

[City Lights]

44. What "real world" are you talking about?

:smirk:

Most people would be quite content living on $180,000 a year. I suggest these fucking ass losers spend a year in the "real world" and see what's it like to live on whatever the average American salary is.

Fuck them. Sounds like these treasonous bastards are expecting payback for handing the oval office to smirky asssuck.

Poor babies. :nopity:

[AngryAmish]

15. He is right

In order to attract the best people the salary should be higher. This is not about the Supreme Court - folks would serve there for free. But at the lower levels in urban areas if the salary is not higher the best legal minds would not serve.

Sure you could have folks who were already in corporate law firms and have made their fortune, but people who spent their lives in public service will like to be able to afford college for their kids. Can't do that on that salary.

[PsN2Wind]

33. I remember when the Congress

awarded themselves a huge raise in pay to attract "better candidates". Next election we got Sonny Bono. Give them a raise but allow the electorate the right to cull the Clarence Thomas types in the next election cycle rather than have them there for a lifetime.

[AngryAmish]

34. Have you started the Amendment process?

[salin]

16. Er... then don't go into public service, turn down the appointment, or retire.

These "we need more pay" - when the pay is far higher than many public servants (let alone other jobs), drive me nuts.

Public school teachers know the pay when they go into the field. So do people who take judgeships - which pays a whole lot more. If you don't like the pay - don't take the job. But to take the job, then whine, and expect people earning a whole lot less than you to pay for your raises... I say just go take a hike.\

As to "Constitutional Crisis"... we already have one - thanks to some of your colleagues sitting on the SC. And it isn't due to lack of pay raises - its due to the Imperial (co)Presidency occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[bemildred]

18. Perhaps we can find some third-world judges that will work for less. nt

[dkofos]

19. Part time pay for part time work. Quit in protest if it bothers you.

[sam sarrha]

24. that is one way to replace professionals with Reagent University lackeys

[whatdoyouthink]

29. Like the deserve it?

I would say a "Cut" is needed- What Min um wage? Now!
Most rulings go for the rich (companies) and Powerful
180 plus and how many days off? they could get a 2nd job or perhaps in India we could find cheaper workers, I,m sick of government getting "Decent" wages and benefits - while ares (most) everyone else is being cut / dropped / ended / etc...tell them were at war!!! (last time i checked) and they are going to have to suck it up!!! Bunch of Babbie's

[Contrary1]

35. “constitutional crisis”

Let's see...the boy king is allowed to hold prisoners indefinitely without charges, deny prisoners contact with lawyers, torture suspects, listen at will to US citizens' phone conversations, etc...

And this is what Roberts considers a potential “constitutional crisis”? How sad.

[Elidor]

36. "How America would look in the absence of a skilled and independent judiciary"

It looks like this:

[JerseygirlCT]

37. I think, when we have a skilled and independent judiciary, that they

should be well paid.

That would of course, leave Roberts out.

[terisan]

38. If he wants to be rich, he needs to resign from public service-it is service not wealth accumulation

He wants power prestige AND riches for himself on the taxpayers money? Sickening.

There are many others eager for the position at the money it pays now. Let supply and demand economics work its magic---he can cash in by moving to the private sector.

[Kansas Wyatt]

46. Fuck him! How about a decrease and benefits slashed / eliminated?

Then they can take their place with the rest of America.

[notadmblnd]

47. What will he do, quit?

bummer.:sarcasm:

Just like we're told in the corporate world, he is getting paid to do the job he was hired to do and has done nothing to merit an increase. And I quote the former CEO of EDS,The big Dick Brown, "if you're unhappy here, go work someplace else."