from staff
The Florida Bar led a successful effort to move the American Bar Association to lobby Congress in support of United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ call to substantially increase federal judges’ salaries.
Echoing Roberts’ statement to Congress before the ABA House of Delegates meeting in Miami last week, Florida Bar President Hank Coxe called current federal district court judges’ pay a “constitutional crisis.”
Joined by seven other state bars and four national legal groups, Florida’s recommendation holds that current judicial salaries have not kept pace with increases in average American workers’ wages. Coxe said the situation is causing experienced judges to leave the bench and making it difficult to attract new ones, which threatens to undermine the strength and independence of the federal judiciary.
“The issue of judicial pay has grown steadily worse over the past 35-plus years,” said Coxe. “From 1969 through 2006, real pay for federal judges declined approximately 25 percent. Increasing judicial pay will allow the federal judiciary to continue to attract and retain the highest quality lawyers.”
Coxe also said that an important factor to consider is where judges – particularly trial judges – come from. During Pres. Dwight Eisenhower’s administration, roughly 65 percent came from the practicing bar, with 35 percent from the public sector. Today the numbers are almost reversed with 60 percent from the public sector and less that 40 percent from private practice.
Citing Roberts’ 2006 year-end report and a National Commission on Public Service’s (NCPS) study from 2003, the ABA will urge Congress to take immediate action to rectify the situation.
“Fair compensation for judges is essential to ensure that we have a qualified judiciary, an independent judiciary, a judiciary that commands public respect,” said Mark H. Alcott, president of the New York State Bar Association in support of the resolution. “When we allow judicial salaries to languish as they have we jeopardize all of our efforts to preserve fair and impartial courts.”
“The Pennsylvania Bar was proud to partner with The Florida Bar to support an increase in pay for our federal judges. Preserving a strong and independent judiciary through adequate judicial compensation is essential to a fair and impartial justice system. This resolution demonstrates the organized bar standing as one to protect and defend the Constitutional principles of lifetime tenure and no reduction in pay for the federal bench,” said Andrew F. Susko, president-elect Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Kim Askew of the State Bar of Texas, another resolution sponsor, added that “A substantial pay raise for federal judges is long overdue. While it is an honor to serve on the federal bench, federal judges make many sacrifices in serving. Our nation will continue to attract and retain the best lawyers on the federal bench only if we adequately pay judges for the important work they do.”
According to the NCPS, it has been 16 years since the last judicial pay raise took effect. Since that time average American workers wages, adjusted for inflation, increased 18.5 percent while federal judges’ inflation-adjusted pay decreased by 15.1 percent.
The last comprehensive review of judicial salaries was in 1989 when Congress decided that pay should be annually adjusted to keep pace with inflation and mirror private-sector wages. “Congress has simply refused to make good on its expressed goal, and has not even provided cost-of-living increases,” said former Federal Reserve Chair Paul A. Volcker, who chaired the NPCS when the report was issued.
The Roberts’ report indicates that today federal judges are paid substantially less – about half – what the deans and senior law professors at top law schools are paid and that beginning lawyers in some cities are likely to earn more in their first year than most experienced federal district judges.
Roberts said federal judges willingly make a number of sacrifices as part of judicial life, accepting difficult work, public criticism and threats to personal safety.
“They do not expect to receive salaries commensurate with what they could easily earn in private practice,” the chief justice said. “They can rightly expect, however, top be treated more fairly than they have been.”
Coxe said he is hopeful that Congress will respond immediately.
Sponsors of the recommendation were: The Florida Bar, Pennsylvania Bar Association, ABA Section of Litigation, ABA Judicial Division, Louisiana State Bar Association, ABA Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section, State Bar of Texas, Illinois State Bar Association, Iowa State Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Nebraska State Bar Association and ABA General Practice Solo and Small Firm Division.