Chief Justice Argues for 'Vital Legislation' to Raise Pay for Federal Judges

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. renewed his call for a pay raise for federal judges and pledged new cooperation with the other branches of government in his year-end report on the federal judiciary.

Roberts last year devoted his entire report to making the case for higher salaries for judges, and Congress has responded with at least a tentative plan for pay increases.

"We are grateful for the continuing support of the bipartisan leadership in both the House and the Senate, as well as the support of the president, on this vital legislation," Roberts wrote in the report, released today.

Roberts, like his predecessor, William H. Rehnquist, was critical of says that the decision to link judicial salaries to congressional pay, writing that the action has caused a "steady erosion" of judicial salaries for the past 20 years and has left federal trial judges "earning about the same as (and in some cases less than) first-year lawyers at firms in major cities, where many of the judges are located."

The House Judiciary Committee voted 28 to 5 in December to increase the pay of federal district judges from $165,200 to $233,500. Salaries for appeals court judges would increase from $175,100 to $247,500, while the pay for Supreme Court justices would jump from $203,000 to $286,900. Roberts's own salary would increase from $212,000 to $299,800.

A bill proposed in the Senate would approve larger increases.

Roberts and others have made the case that judicial salaries are far below what judges could make in private practice or at prestigious universities, resulting in more judges leaving the bench.

Elsewhere in his report, Roberts pledged to improve communications between the judicial branch and the legislative and executive branches. He wrote that "each should strive, through respectful exchanges of insights and ideas, to know and appreciate where the others stand."

Roberts was not specific about what he envisioned, but said he had asked the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to "consider other opportunities for improving inter-branch communication and cooperation."

The chief justice also promised that the judiciary will "relentlessly ensure that federal judges maintain the highest standards of integrity."

Again, Roberts was not specific, but a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, last month said that impeachment proceedings should be considered against U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. for numerous alleged ethical violations.

The rare call for impeachment will be considered by the Judicial Conference, headed by Roberts, and if approved, then sent on to Congress.