Scalia

I like his thinking, too, but I also feel that anybody qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice deserves to be paid enough to exist in the D.C. environment. Lots of big city law firms start newbie lawyers, fresh out of law school, at almost what the Justices are making.

$500,000 per year sounds about right to me, with a $15,000 bonus for every death penalty case that they affirm.
 
Scalia acknowledged Wednesday that it's not always simple to divine original intent, but he said any other theory leaves judges unleashed to interpret the Constitution however they see fit.

The result, he said, is a sort of "mini-Constitutional convention" during every Supreme Court nomination in which interest groups seek nominees who will rewrite the Constitution to their standards.
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And that is why we don't have revolutions. Three independent branches, each of which can exert a controlling effect on society, and can reach out and grab the heel of any of the other two if they've gone too far.

I think Scalia is winking his eye when he says "not always simple", when it is in fact not always POSSIBLE. This little fact forces the courts into this "other theory" that leaves judges to interpret the Constitution however they see fit.

I think that's what the FFs planned, and that's how it's shaking out.

Also, why does it look like conservative Scalia is making some sort of a minimum wage argument? I thought conservatives wanted the market to dictate pay.
 
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"If you become a federal judge in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), you can't raise a family on what the salary is," Scalia said during a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council.
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I think Scalia is a good judge, but if he thinks a judge can`t raise a family on what the salary is now in New York, then how does he think the millions of other families are living in New York on salaries of $50-75,000?
Come on, they are as bad as lawyers. Tell him to raise the trade salaries of Electricians to $200,000. Electricians can`t raise a family here in Maryland on salaries less than $200,000. :rolleyes:
 
This is typical Democrat classism b.s. Why don't we just raise every little ignorant, uneducated worker bee with no responsibility to exactly the same salary as the POTUS?

If we have any pride in our Republic at all, we won't have our Supreme Court Justices on the same salary level with some pedestrian with a degree in Early Childhood Education or Criminal Justice, etc., etc. There are nine Supreme Court Justices in the entire U.S. Can you wizards grasp the significance of that?

How much do you think $165,000 after taxes is, and do you have any concept of trying to maintain any kind of respectable standard of living in most of the urban areas in the U.S. on that? Take a look at real estate prices in the D.C. area.
 
I thought conservatives wanted the market to dictate pay.
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I think that was Scalia's argument. A decent lawyer in Washington makes a lot more than the justices do. In a free market, you either pay more for a high-quality product or accept an inferior product for what you are willing to pay.
 
Perhaps, then, he should retire and go into private practice. Imagine the salary he'd get after having served on the Supreme Court !

If YOU want to send him a check for the difference he wants, be my guest. But don't make ME do it.

It's a minimum wage argument he's making, plain and simple.

Maybe he should join a judge's union.
 
That is risible. If it needs saying, the minimum wage is imposed by the fed.gov (or the state) upon private employers hiring unskilled labor.

If you want quality jurists on the bench (and given the Supremes have their fingers in every pie on the table, you should), you'd best be willing to pay them a fair rate for their talents.

Heaven help us. This culture pays air-headed actors $40 million a pop to star in film pap, and pays athletes $10 or $12 million dollars a year to play games, but some would balk at paying the highest ranking jurists in the nation a salary commensurate with their training and experience.

We do get the government we deserve, apparently. :rolleyes:
 
This is typical Democrat classism b.s. Why don't we just raise every little ignorant, uneducated worker bee with no responsibility to exactly the same salary as the POTUS?
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That doesn't sound very market-driven to me.

If we have any pride in our Republic at all, we won't have our Supreme Court Justices on the same salary level with some pedestrian with a degree in Early Childhood Education or Criminal Justice, etc., etc. There are nine Supreme Court Justices in the entire U.S. Can you wizards grasp the significance of that?
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If Scalia is serving partly out of civic duty to the United States, why can't he accept that as part of his pay? And if he'd not, the market's right outside the door, and very lucrative.

How much do you think $165,000 after taxes is, and do you have any concept of trying to maintain any kind of respectable standard of living in most of the urban areas in the U.S. on that?
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I have no idea how much it is after taxes. Never had to worry about the question.

Take a look at real estate prices in the D.C. area.
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Maybe he could commute.

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The thing is, I take what the market offers every day. I am capable of making a LOT more money than I do (and then I could answer your after-tax question), but I trade that off for working a type of job that I really like to do, and that has contributed to society through work resulting in several patents (not hula hoops).

You would think that a SC justice would take some pride in what he does and accept that as a part of the pay.

If all Scalia wants to do is grub money, the market is right there. He only needs two words. I quit.
 
Scalia isn't begging for money; just making valid points about judicial compensation shortfalls. Couple of you guys suffer greatly from "I'm from the wrong side of the tracks" syndrome.
 
Well, a long while back I was offered a job with the Civilian Navy at the DTNSRDC (David Taylor Naval Ship R&D Center). They have this thing called the GS schedule, and it dictates how much is paid to who in the government. It's not a classified list (yet). I'm sure that anyone applying or bidding or otherwise making his interest in known regarding a judgeship can find out how much the pay is going to be.

Personally, I prefer those in government to be attracted to it because they want to serve, not because it's the highest paying job around. I couldn't care less what sports figures and actors get paid. The reasons they do what they do have no effect on me.

I know a couple of state judges. To get to the point where they were appointed, they sort of had to know everybody, and had to be accomplished lawyers. They were already wealthy. They took the pay cut because of the prestige and because they wanted to be in that job.

The second they get tired of that pay, they can retire and open up shop privately.
 
"Highest paying job around?" Got any idea what partners in big law firms make? Superior Court Judges in rural GA make over $150k annually...some a little more, depending on their county supplements.
 
Personally, I prefer those in government to be attracted to it because they want to serve, not because it's the highest paying job around.

They took the pay cut because of the prestige and because they wanted to be in that job.
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Yes, megalomaniacs come cheap if the title is big enough and the spotlight bright enough.
 
This justice has never complained about the salary. Get what you pay for I guess.



badbob
 

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gc70 said:
Yes, megalomaniacs come cheap if the title is big enough and the spotlight bright enough.
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Absolutely correct, gc70. That's why I'm running for Mayor of Rupert in 2007. The pay is a measly $15K, but oh, the prestige!

Mayor Antipitas.... Has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?

Personal ambitions aside, I agree with invention_45. Public servants should not make union scale. Ben Franklin suggested that Members of Congress give their services for free, but was overruled.

At first, members were paid a per diem ($6.00) while actively in session. In 1815, the Congress voted themselves a salary of $1500. Today, rank and file members are paid $165,200 per year, not including "perks."

In contrast, the senate and house minority and majority leaders are paid $183,500 while the Speaker of the House gets $202,100.

These salaries affect all federal judges and senior administrators.

The President gets $400K (PL 106-58, 2001) while the Vice-President receives $202,900 (as of 2004).

So what some of you are saying is that we simply aren't paying these elected (or appointed) critters enough? That if we payed more, we would get a higher caliber of legislator or judge? Really?

Perhaps people like Jeffrey Skilling and Arthur Anderson?
 
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