By Hon. Robert J. Lunn
The Daily Record Newswire
“Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
The one and only presidential debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter of the 1980 presidential year was held a week before the election by the League of Women Voters. As Carter went on the offensive against Reagan’s record regarding Medicare, Reagan replied with “There you go again.” It was intended to quickly disarm his opponent and by the accounts of most historians it hit the mark.
Reagan went on to win the presidential election in a monumental landslide, carrying 44 states and the electoral vote by a margin of 484-49. No one would attribute the election results to that one catchphrase, but this past Sunday, President Reagan’s name and legacy surfaced repeatedly as political “talking heads” remembered our 40th president for what would have been his 100th birthday.
Frankly, I didn’t quite get it. He died on June 5, 2004. With the help of my simple and not so mathematcially oriented brain, that meant he was 93 at the time of this death. But if he had lived through this past Sunday he would have been 100.
So happy birthday, Mr. President and I regret that you were not with us to celebrate this milestone. And in case anyone is interested I will/would be 100 on July 7, 2047, but I likewise don’t expect to be blowing out candles on that date. And to be fair, not everyone would necessarily express fond memories of President Reagan.
My older and very liberal “left coast” brother actually cried the night the election results came in. No, I mean he did actually cry. So, with all this hoopla and the 100th year, I thought it appropriate to try to work that 1980 Reagan quote into this week’s column.
Here it goes.
This past Sunday, I picked up the local newspaper and read about 17 judges collecting both salaries and pensions. Apparently this was meant to incite readers and educate them to the so called “double dipping” phenomenon.
My first reaction was “there you go again.” The article in the paper began by noting that New York state judges haven’t received a pay raise since 1999, “but more than a dozen of them are collecting a salary and a pension while serving on the bench.”
My response was a loud-but-nobody-home-except-my-dog-to-hear, “So what?” They are trying to survive.
In 2005, while still serving on the state Supreme Court, I worked with other judges and judicial administrators, meeting in Albany with legislative leaders. We were trying to secure a pay adjustment for the more than 1,300 statewide judges. We were unsuccessful.
I refused then and still refuse to call it a “pay raise.” It isn’t. At best, it’s a pay adjustment.
Judges today are being paid exactly what they were being paid on Jan. 1, 1999. There has been no increase. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. There has been not even a cost of living adjustment. Effectively, the pay for judges has been eroded over the past 12-plus years by 33.4 percent. In real dollars that means that the salary of $136,700 in 1999 has been reduced by $45,657 over that period of time.
Judges are ethically precluded from earning additional income other than from teaching or writing — unlike our dysfunctional, well-paid state legislators who can also earn salaries from full time jobs.
So, here’s a memo to the Gannett writers: If you want to do some hard hitting investigative journalism, why don’t you examine how a so called independent and co-equal third branch of state government can continue to be treated so shabbily. And why is it called “double dipping” to collect a pension and continue to work? It isn’t double anything.
I ran for the state Supreme Court in 1994, emptied my 401(k) and savings to do so and took a pay cut from what I was earning in my private practice. I was promised a pension upon becoming eligible for retirement. The state kept its promise. I kept mine.
If I had not recently entered private practice I would still be collecting the same pension. Because I chose to re-enter the workforce at age 61, am I now a “double dipper”? I’m working and earning money by doing so.
If you want to do something useful, Gannett, then why not get on board to help maintain the quality of our judiciary and start aggressively supporting a pay adjustment for our judges in this state?
And by the way, did I mention that the federal judiciary with whom New York judges once claimed parity are now earning $170,000 a year?
Need additional facts? Second-year associates, “right out of law school” graduates, are earning the same $170,000 salaries in New York City.
The Hon. Robert J. Lunn served for 14 years (1995 to 2008) on the New York State Supreme Court, his last three as an associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Second and Fourth Departments. He is a partner at Trevett, Cristo, Salzer and Andolina. Lunn is the contributing author to three publications from West Publishing, the most recent being The Companion Handbook for Pattern Jury Instructions. He can be reached at rlunn@Trevettlaw.com.
