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30 Third Branch 1 (1998)

handle is hein.journals/thirdbran30 and id is 1 raw text is: THE THIRD BRANCH The 1997 Year-End Report of the Federal Judiciary Overview As I review the state of the Judi- ciary this year and compare it with the 11 previous years I have served as Chief Justice, I am impressed by the degree to which our relations with Congress have dominated 1997. Con- gressional responses and initiatives on judicial issues ranging from funding to salaries, and from federal jurisdiction to judicial vacancies, all have had influence on I signfct the Judi- ciary over the past year. The results have been mixed-which is scarcely surprising- and therefore we will face some of the same challenges in 1998 that con- fronted us in 1997. Despite the work that remains to be done, I am encour- aged by the Judiciary's ability to per- form its essential role in our constitu- tional structure of government. Funding, Salaries, Jurisdiction, and Vacancies I first would like to express my gratitude to Congress for its financial support of the Judiciary. In a time of scarce resources, Congress responded favorably to the careful financial plan adopted by the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. These moneys will be used wisely and economically. The Ju- diciary supports fully the national goal of eliminating the budget deficit and has instituted a formal process to identify and implement initiatives to reduce or avoid costs. I also wish to extend the thanks of the federal judges to Congress for the 2.3 percent Employment Cost Index (ECI) adjustment that it approved to take effect on January 1, 1998, as well as my appreciation to the members of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the Federal Judges Association, the Magistrate Judges Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Federal Bar Asso- ciation, the American Bar Association, judges, the staff of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and various other bar groups for all the time Newsleter of the Federal Oflt Courts Vol. 30 Number / Special Issue and energy they invested this year on the issue of judicial compensation. In particular, Ralph Mecham and his leg- islative staff, and Judge Barefoot Sand- ers and the members of his Committee on the Judicial Branch, deserve special recognition. In my last Year-End Report, I noted that Congress had not granted federal judges an ECI adjustment in four years, thereby reducing judges' sala- ries in constant dollars by 8.6 percent. During 1997, the aforementioned groups and organizations worked very hard to rectify the situation. They urged Congress both to repeal Section 140 of the Continuing Resolution Act of December 15,1981, Public Law 97- 92 (Section 140), which provides that no salary increases shall be granted to federal judges without ex- press legislative approval, and to pro- vide a catch-up pay adjustment equal to the ECI adjustments not granted since 1993. Although we are pleased that Con- gress approved the 2.3 percent adjust- ment, it is obviously not an enduring solution to a problem that continues to endanger the morale and quality of the federal Judiciary. In general, all the ad- justment does (assuming that inflation in 1997 is about 2.3 percent) is to en- sure that federal judges are, in abso- lute terms, no worse off than they were at the end of last year. It prevents further deterioration of real judicial salaries. But it does not redress previ- ous loss, or the disparity I noted last year between federal judicial salaries and the salaries of the profession from which federal judges are recruited. See Report on page 2

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