Institute in Daily Herald: Illinois trial judges are the highest paid in the nation
The Daily Herald published an editorial that highlighted a recent story about Illinois trial judges being the highest in the nation. The story featured research and commentary from the Illinois Policy Institute.
The Daily Herald published an editorial that highlighted a recent story about Illinois trial judges being the highest in the nation.
The story featured research and commentary from the Illinois Policy Institute.
Editorial: Amend state constitution to curb judges’ pay
Judges do important work. There is no question about that. They underpin our rule of law.
Don’t get us wrong. We have the utmost respect for what they do.
We appreciate their often courageous contribution to society.
But why, we must ask, should a circuit court judge in Illinois make more money than a circuit court judge anywhere else in the country?
Is our cost of living somehow higher than the cost of living in New York where salaries are substantially lower? Are our cases somehow more complex than the cases presented in Oregon where salaries are among the lowest in the nation? Are our judges somehow more highly trained and educated than in Massachusetts, the home of Harvard Law School?
Are the caseloads somehow heavier here? Are the responsibilities somehow greater? Are our demands for integrity somehow higher? Are the law school debts somehow more substantial?
The answer to all those questions is “no.”
As Collin Hitt, senior director of government affairs for the Illinois Policy Institute, told Suburban Tax Watchdog columnist Jake Griffin, “We’re a state with a relatively low cost of living. Why are our judges being paid considerably more than judges across the country? It’s a question with no obvious answer.”
What’s different is that we have a state constitution that set judicial salaries and then gave the authority for raises to a Compensation Review Board, which is now defunct.
The state Supreme Court later ruled the Illinois Constitution provides that judges get annual cost-of-living raises based on a formula pegged on inflation numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As a result, judicial salaries in Illinois keep going up — despite declining caseloads, a stagnant population and an ever-deepening chasm in the state’s ability to pay its bills.
As Griffin reported, there are 56 more judges on Illinois benches today than there were in 2004, and all 967 judges receive constitutionally guaranteed raises every year.
Illinois taxpayers will spend about $39 million more on judicial salaries this year than we did then.
In a climate in which the state is deeply cutting services because it can’t pay its bills, this makes no sense.
We appreciate the work of our judges. We’re not saying they should be the lowest paid in the nation.
But it does not make sense that they should be the highest paid.
Something needs to be done about it, and there’s only one avenue for that — an amendment to the state constitution.
Will our governor and the General Assembly have the wisdom and political courage to put an amendment proposal on the ballot?
If they do, we are confident the voters will approve it.