State Judges: A New Front In The War On The Pay Raise

State Judges: A New Front In The War On The Pay Raise

By L. R. Petolicchio

Posted mid-September 2005

Since the pay raise controversy first came to life in those wee-hours of the morning after the state legislature made their historic blunder, the public outcry against Pennsylvania's General Assembly has been loud and consistent. There can be no question that the gun sites of the electorate have been squarely placed on the governor and the legislature.

In the midst of all of this, however, there is still one group in Harrisburg which has not yet tasted the full wrath of the electorate, a group which has, with the exception of one individual, remained largely silent about the pay raise and the unvouchered expense accounts, but of whom an accounting must and should be made. And it is a group of politicians who can be made to feel the sting of taxpayer anger in the 2005 Fall General Election.

I am referring to Pennsylvania's state judges.

Of course, almost everyone in the commonwealth is familiar with the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, Ralph "Knee-jerk" Cappy, who has actually been credited with developing the scheme to tie the salaries of state judges and state legislators to their federal counterparts. And it was Cappy, speaking on behalf of all of the state judges, who praised the legislature for voting for the pay raise after the heinous deed was done.

But there are a few other things we need to recall about our illustrious judiciary.

First, our judges are not appointed; they are elected. That means they have chosen to run for judge, and have set up the appropriate political action committees to finance their run for the judicial seats they want to secure - just as the governor and state legislators do. There is no difference in their political aspirations.

Second, our judges do not have lifetime appointments; they serve for a term of ten years and then the voters decided whether to keep them in office (retention) or bounce them out. In other words, unlike the governor or the state legislators, who can only be turned out by the electorate choosing an opponent, Pennsylvania's judges can be removed without anyone having to suffer through a political campaign. So, if we the people don't want our judges to continue to sit on the bench, they can be bounced - no questions asked.

Third, our state judges have been just as disingenuous about the pay raise debacle as the governor and legislature have been - if not more so. After all, what was the first and foremost reason given by the governor and the legislature for voting for the pay raises? Was it not the fact that the judges on Pennsylvania's benches had complained about not receiving enough compensation for their time?

And while the governor and state senators and state representatives from across the state have been getting the brunt of the criticism, our state judges have remained cloistered behind their benches as if they are just innocent bystanders.

Yet, innocent they are not.

Recent published reports http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-30/112706784163690.xml&storylist=penn show that just last year the justices on the state Supreme Court charged taxpayers $164,000 in expenses - with an expense account that is uncapped! This is in addition to the $170,000-plus salary that they make - among the highest in the republic.

In July of this year, after the pay raise was passed, our state judges gathered in Hershey for their annual conference - and they gave Justice Cappy, the judiciary branch's point man for the pay raise, a standing ovation for his efforts in securing them more money!

Regarding this outpouring of appreciation for fattening their own wallets, the Morning Call http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/all-editorial1sep12,0,2476761.story?coll=all-newsopinion-hed had this to say:

"In political quarters, it's called delivering the bacon. But, the public likes to believe its courts are insulated from the corrupting influence of pork politics. People hold to the ideal that the courts will interpret the law according to principles, rather than self-interests. It's the bedrock of trust that underlies democratic government. So, when you hear that the state's judicial community applauded an essentially political effort, it raises concerns at several levels, and not just because of monetary concern that the pay hike for 521 trial judges and 555 magisterial judges will cost the taxpayers $13.5 million this fiscal year..."

Maybe the judges deserved the pay raise. But the arguments should have been made in public, before lawmakers approved them, not afterwards in opinion pieces written by Justice Cappy and Gov. Rendell.

All of which beg a number of disturbing questions.

First, how stupid were these judges when they decided to run for their current seats? After all, is there not a reasonable expectation that the person seeking the elected office - especially those who want to sit in judgment of others - would be aware of any salary limitations and would have considered the cost before seeking a spot on the bench? Or were these people so caught up in the glamor of being a judge that they lost sight of the fact that they would only be making $124,000 a year - starting?

Or are we to believe that these people were so autruistic that they had no regard for their financial well being? But, if that were the case, then what caused the transformation from a self-sacrificing judge-wannbe to a greedy, money grubbing politician? Indeed, if such a Jeykll and Hyde swap has occurred wouldn't we be better off without such unstable individuals on the bench?

Second, why should all of these judges receive a pay raise? Are we to believe that all of these judges are actually worth the money their getting now, let alone the money they will be getting as a consequence of the pay raise? By campaigning (via Justice Cappy) for an across the board pay raise for all judges, haven't our state judges been just as irresponsible as our state legislature in that they have chosen to reward mediocrity?

Third, why haven't any of the judges spoken out against, or at least declined, the pay raise? Save for the most pompous and arrogant of legislators, we have seen numerous state representatives either recant their vote for the pay raise or surrender the unconstitutional unvouchered expense accounts - either because their conscience bothered them or their constituents did. Why then have our judges remained silent? Don't they at least have some sense of angst about these pay raises, or has their sense of conscience been paved over with dollar bills?

Fourth, why should any of the judges who are up for retention in November's General Election be kept on the bench? Why do they deserve to even remain a judge, let alone received a new, higher salary?

Why should the Sandra Schultz Newman and Russell Nigro be returned to the state supreme court?

Why should Mike Georgelis and Louis Farina and Samuel Kline be returned to their district benches?

Finally, what have any of these judges done to deserve an increase in salary for which they so strenuously gave their applause to Justice Cappy? For while the public cries "foul" in the streets, our state judges sip cocktails at their exclusive clubs on the taxpayers tab. And for this they want more money?

Pennsylvania's judges are just as accountable to the public for the recent pay raise debacle as the state egislature and Governor Rendell. And while the governor and the ninnies in the General Assembly have begun to feel the heat and are beginning to squirm, our judges have remained aloof and detached - even though they are the ones who should be held primarily responsible for the unconstitutionality of this situation.

It is time, then, that a new front should be opened in the war against the pay raise.

It is time for Pennsylvania's electorate to vote 'NO' on retaining http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/lib/bcel/elections/2005_retention_election.pdf all state judges whose names are on the ballot in November. It is time for our state judges to be held as accountable for this heinous pay raise as our legislators.

Source: http://www.keystonereview.com/peto200509judges.html

Vice Chairman of Voter Education

http://www.ycop.org

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YCOP/

http://www.InformedPA.com