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Summary

Several federal judges, including the Chief Justice of the United States, have expressed concern over the level of judicial salary. Chief Justice Roberts has called the current levels of judicial salary a "constitutional crisis" that threatens the independence of the federal courts. The most common arguments for raising judicial salary claim that low judicial salaries (1) limit the ability of the federal judiciary to draw on a diverse pool of candidates for positions on the federal bench; (2) force federal judges concerned about their financial futures to resign from the bench before they become eligible for retirement; and (3) drive other federal judges, upon becoming eligible for retirement, to retire completely (to earn extra income outside the judiciary), rather than remain to assist the courts as judges on "senior status." Opponents of raising judicial salary generally question whether variations in judicial salary affect recruitment and retention of federal judges. Examination of the available evidence on the effect of judicial salary on judicial recruitment and retention suggests (1) trends away from appointing judges directly from private practice and toward appointing federal judges who are already in the judiciary (as state judges or federal bankruptcy or magistrate judges) date to before the most recent decline in judicial salaries, (2) federal judges are not resigning from the federal bench at rates much higher than historical averages, and (3) the percentage of federal judges who chose retirement in lieu of senior status has also not risen markedly in the last several years. From an examination of data on judicial departures, we are unable to identify a conclusive relationship between judicial salary and federal judges' decisions to resign or retire. Should Congress wish to address the issue of judicial salary, it has several options. In addition to increasing the pay of federal judges on a one-time basis by a specific amount or percentage, Congress might consider "de-linking" congressional and judicial salaries, providing that judges receive salaries based on their cost of living, revising retirement benefits, adjusting survivor benefits for the spouses and dependents of federal judges, altering outside income limits, convening the Citizens' Commission on Public Service and Compensation, or enacting automatic adjustments for judicial salary. Four bills concerning judicial salary have been introduced in the 110th Congress: S. 197 would adjust the salaries of federal judges upward by 1.7%; S. 1638 would increase the salaries of federal judges by 46.4%; S. 2353 would increase the salaries of federal judges by 16.5%; and H.R. 3753, as reported by the House Judiciary Committee, would increase the salaries of most federal judges by 28.7%, permit costof-living adjustments to judicial salaries to go into effect unless Congress passed legislation stopping them from doing so, and change the eligibility for federal judges to retire, as well as changing how the annuity they receive upon retirement is calculated. This report will be updated as events warrant.

Related Legislation:
• S.197
• S.1638
• S.2353
• H.R.3753

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