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Health & Fitness

Judiciary looking for a pay raise.

Judicial pay increases

In an article in today’s Lawyer’s Weekly it is claimed that the judiciary is looking for a pay raise for the justices. They have not received a pay increase for the last five years, while the rest of us have been living the life of Riley.

It should be noted that the justices each earn a six figure salary, have next to no chance of being laid off, and have fantastic benefits that the rest of us can only dream of.

It’s an example of the 1% percenters again asking for more, more, more.

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True our courts have suffered under budget restraints and the courts have cut hours in response, but the cuts in jobs have been at the lower end.  The workers as usual have to pay the price.  Paying judges more will not improve the flow of justice.  Giving the justices back the support staff they once employed will increase their productivity.  The justices on the other hand claim they are doing the best they can and a pay increase for the justices will not change nor improve services.

The judiciary is well aware of their need for support staff so it comes as a disappointment that they are seeking a pay increase for themselves, putting their needs before that of the courts itself.

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As an advocate who has watched the process of appointing judges for some time, it is clear that most people that become judges experience a pay increase, in most cases a very large pay increase, that the judiciary is now asking for more money, at a time when most of us have to deal with less is disappointing.

Also of concern should be the number of judges that are not judges, performing functions that could be easily performed by others at a lower cost.  Judges like doctors don’t like working with people that are not equal to their station in life, so we have judges performing routine administrative tasks that could be as easily performed by someone that is better trained and paid less.

While I have no issue with the amount of money judges are paid, I am concerned that at a time when there is so much unemployment that the focus is feeding those on the top of the pyramid

 

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