Judges exempt from pay cut that will affect other court employees
When courthouses in Los Angeles County start closing their doors one day a month because of the state’s financial crisis, one group of workers will escape much of the financial fallout: judges.
Although the rest of the court’s more than 5,000 employees will get what one union official said would amount to about a 5% pay cut, judges will collect their full salary whether or not they show up for work on the 12 days that courts are closed.
In announcing the closures this week, court officials painted a bleak picture of their budget outlook, warning that they eventually may be forced to lay off as much as a quarter of their staff in the coming years. But because of a constitutional provision protecting judges from a pay cut during their term in service, the county’s more than 400 judges will be spared the furlough.
Officials announced Tuesday that courthouses will be shuttered on the third Wednesday of each month beginning July 15 to help fill a projected $90-million budget shortfall. The move is expected to save about $18 million.
Most court employees said they would rather take furloughs than lose their jobs, but some said judges should take part in the cost-cutting .
“Judges should somehow participate in what the rest of their employees are participating in,” said Arnella Sims, a court reporter who has worked for L.A. County Superior Court for more than 33 years.
Sims, who is executive director of the L.A. County Court Reporters Assn., suggested that judges could contribute to a fund to help lower-paid employees, or offer to pay for some of their own expenses.
“I don’t think they should just sit back because they can’t be affected by the furlough,” she said. “They should feel some impact as well; they could be helpful in the process.”
Presiding Judge Charles “Tim” McCoy and supervising judges were in meetings Wednesday discussing the details of how the closures will affect the courts and judges, said court spokesman Allan Parachini. He said officials plan to release details today on whether judges would work on the days the courts are closed.
“Without support staff, they have decisions to write, emergency orders to sign. . . There is certainly work judges can occupy themselves with,” he said.
Judges in Los Angeles County receive $178,789 in annual salary from the state. Cash benefits and retirement contributions from the state and county bring their compensation up to $249,413.
Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, who teaches legal ethics, said having judges show up for work while the rest of the courthouse is closed might cause some inefficiencies. “The big challenge is, if judges want to work and they’re going to try to get things done, what can you do without a court reporter and clerks?” she said.
Levenson said although civil judges have more filings and paperwork to do in chambers, criminal judges have less work to do behind the scene. A judge’s support staff also might struggle to catch up when they come back to work, she said.
State court officials said they were considering asking Superior Court judges throughout California to take voluntary furloughs and pay cuts one day a month to help ease the impact of budget cuts.
The board of the California Judges Assn. approved the plan, but was met with some resistance from judges, officials said. “Some people would definitely not like to see it happen, or only happen as a last resort,” said the association’s president, Judge Mary Wiss of San Francisco County Superior Court. But Wiss said that the judges opposing the idea are a “small minority.”
“Most people want to be part of the solution . . . I think there will be a substantial number who will take it,” she said.
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