Roberts' Report on Judiciary Stresses Salary and Security Gap Issues
by Allie Martin
January 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The ranking judge on the United States Supreme Court is calling for higher salaries to keep federal judges on the bench. In his first year-end report on the federal judiciary, high court Chief Justice John Roberts said the difference in pay between successful government attorneys and private sector attorneys is too large.In his "2005 Report on the Federal Judiciary," Roberts said the American judiciary is in danger of being staffed by a combination of jurists who are independently wealthy and those who have followed a career path before becoming a judge. Attorney Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, believes there is some merit to the chief justice's concerns.
"We do need good, qualified judges," Staver acknowledges. "We do need independent judges. And we need to make sure that the judges we are putting in place are the kind of judges that will be fair and balanced."
However, the attorney notes, it is understood and assumed that there will always be a substantial difference in pay between lawyers in the private sector and those in civil service. The latter "really is a calling, and it really is a service," he says. "That's why we call it 'public service.'"
But even though some people might react strongly against Justice Roberts' recommendation, Staver contends there is a need for better compensation for federal judges. Still, he emphasizes, "While pay increases are certainly something we should consider, we shouldn't necessarily have a one-to-one ratio between what you make in the private sector and the government sector."
In addition to suggesting that federal judges deserve a pay raise, Roberts' report also called for better court security to prevent violence. expressed concern over violence directed at judges and in courts in the past year. Mentioning the murders of a U.S. district judge's husband and mother in Chicago by a litigant, and an Atlanta court shooting that left a judge, court reporter and deputy dead, Chief Justice Roberts remarked that such attacks underscored the need for all branches of government, state and federal, to improve safety and security for judges and judicial employees, both within and outside courthouses.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
