Constitutional Crisis and Salaries?
I had a really hard time stomaching this article about Chief Justice John Roberts saying because of the salaries for justices the United States ”has now reached the level of a constitutional crisis.”
Bear in mind their salaries are in the neighborhood of $200,000, which while not get rich schemes, its not shabby. Also I imagine there are all types of fringe benefits that are not spoken of. Living allowances, car allowances, etc.
The whole premise behind it is the salaries are not competitive with similar private sector jobs of attorneys, firm partners, etc. I am not sure they are of equal comparison really, there are obvious differences. For one, attorneys, or firm partners have the ups and downs of normal sales cycles. Although my hunch is its mostly on the high side, not a lot of slumps.
According to US Dept of Labor the salaries for lower court judges and magistrates is substantially lower.
- Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates had median annual earnings of $93,070 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $54,140 and $124,400. The top 10 percent earned more than $141,750, while the bottom 10 percent earned less than $29,920. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates in May 2004 were $111,810 in State government and $65,800 in local government. Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers earned a median of $68,930, and arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators earned a median of $54,760.
If I remember from high school politcal science the cheif justice also gets the job for life.
What am I missing?
Derrik Dyka Minneapolis realtor and real estate investor
