New York judges deserve a raise

Michael Dawidziak is a political consultant and pollster.
 

It's time to give the state's judges a raise. In fact, it's past time. We put our trust in these people to administer justice, so it stands to reason that we should want to attract the best and brightest legal minds to serve.

Being a judge used to be considered the pinnacle of a legal career. Now, attorneys fresh out of law school can earn more than we are paying judges here in New York.

They are an elite group, and we entrust them with great responsibility. Nassau and Suffolk counties, with more than 2.8 million people, have only about 80 judges each to handle a workload that includes every manner of criminal and civil case.

Yet, it's going on 13 years since New York judges received a salary increase of any kind -- they haven't even received a cost of living adjustment.

It's hard to think of any other line of work where this is true. Can you imagine if teachers or the police had gone that long without a raise? But since judges are ethically barred from being political and have no avenue to present their case to the public, most New Yorkers are unaware of this shameful situation.

The reason their pay has stagnated is that state lawmakers -- perhaps seeking cover for their own desire for a raise -- have linked judges' salaries to their own. That means judges will only get a raise if the legislature votes to raise its own pay. In a country where the most basic safeguard against abuse in government is a system of checks and balances -- which ensures the different branches of government be independent of each other -- this may very well be unconstitutional, as the New York Court of Appeals ruled last year.

It's also unfair for judges. Senators and Assembly members can have law practices or run their own businesses, generating income outside their legislative salaries. Legislators also have other ways of getting more than their base salary -- extra compensation for committee assignments or leadership positions, for example. And they get a per diem for expenses and can keep campaign accounts, out of which they are allowed to pay legitimate expenses.

None of this is out of bounds, but it does point out the disparity in linking legislative and judicial salaries. Judges are required to return any remaining campaign funds to contributors and, with rare exceptions, are prohibited from making outside income that's linked to their profession, the practice of law.

The National Center for State Courts found in May of 2007 that judges' salaries in the state -- $136,700 for New York's Supreme Court justices -- ranked 48th in the country when adjusted for cost of living. That would certainly be even more the case here on Long Island, with our high cost of getting by. The center also reported that judges in every other state received an average annual increase of 3.2 percent.

The door is finally open to correct this inequity. Late last year, the State Legislature created an independent commission that would have the authority to set judicial salaries unless -- and this is crucial -- the commission's plan is blocked by legislation. The solution is a good one, since it takes the decision out of the political arena. We can only hope that this process isn't marred by the long delays that are so often the case in Albany.

You can learn a lot about a society by looking at how much it is willing to pay certain professions. You wouldn't want the plane you're traveling on to be flown by an underpaid pilot. Nor would you want to be operated on by an underpaid surgeon. Good, fair salaries attract the best candidates for a job. Sooner or later, all of us, or a family member, will need to turn to the judicial system. When we do, we will want the wisest and most qualified jurists sitting in judgment.