From the President

佐治亚律师杂志
2024年2月，卷. 29, No. 4

为乔治亚州法官提供竞争性、一致性的薪酬

I have always said that my favorite job was serving as a trial judge in the State Court of DeKalb County. 但在2011年，由于经济原因，我面临着一个关键的决定. 几年前的股市崩盘使我的积蓄荡然无存, 我也无法再用我的法官工资支付孩子们私立学校的学费了.

I had to make a difficult choice: leave a job that I loved or remove my children from the only school they had ever known. 对我来说，这是一个简单的决定. 我辞去了法官的职务，回到了私人律师事务所, 我可以过上更好的生活吗.

I am not the only judge in Georgia who has faced the difficult choice to leave the bench—far from it. 许多法学家因为经济原因离开了法官席, 由此推论，我们州有很多成功的律师, 尤其是在亚特兰大地区, 不要仅仅因为我们的工资不够高而成为法官吗.

希望这种情况在不久的将来会有所改变. 在格鲁吉亚大会本届会议期间, legislation that would reform our state’s judicial compensation system in a comprehensive manner and significantly improve judicial salaries is under consideration. HB 947，由Rep. 罗伯·莱弗里特(R-Elberton), an attorney, 众议院以压倒性多数通过了该法案，截至2月11日. 23项正在参议院拨款委员会接受审查.

这种立法上的关注当然是受欢迎的，也是早就应该得到的. A 2016 report found that Georgia’s judicial compensation system was “riddled with anomalies and inconsistencies,2022年12月的一份报告发现，许多不一致和差异仍然存在. 和其他州相比, 目前，乔治亚州最高法院法官的薪酬在全美排名第32位, 23rd for 上诉法院法官 and 49th for the state-funded portion of compensation to Superior Court judges (ahead of only West Virginia).

值得注意的是格鲁吉亚的整个司法预算, 按2024财政年度分配, 只占0.占州政府开支的6%.

我在格鲁吉亚司法人员薪金和津贴特设委员会司法理事会任职. 司法委员会, under the leadership of Presiding Justice Nels Peterson and Justice Charlie Bethel of the Supreme Court of Georgia, 在与莱弗里特和其他立法领导人就该提案进行合作方面发挥了重要作用, 如果它成为法律呢, would:

• 解决高等法院法官薪酬方面长期存在的巨大差异;
• 为国家支付的法官的薪酬提供稳定性和可预测性;
• Address the stagnation in judicial pay; and
• 考虑到生活成本的差异.

在改革模式下, Georgia’s national salary rankings would improve to 15th for Supreme Court justices and 12th for 上诉法院法官. 在州内不同的司法巡回法院之间有很大的不同, 乔治亚州一些高等法院法官的工资在全国排名第45位, 而其他国家的排名则高达第五. The reform model would improve the lowest ranking from 45th to 14th; the highest ranking would remain at fifth in the nation with an optional locality pay, 哪一个上限是国家工资的10%.

对司法薪酬改革的必要性有更广泛的看法, 我联系了另外三位前乔治亚州的法学家，他们因为和我一样的原因离开了法官席. 我要感谢前乔治亚州最高法院首席大法官哈罗德·梅尔顿, former Supreme Court of Georgia Justice Keith Blackwell and former DeKalb County State Court Judge Dax López for sharing their individual perspectives.

他曾在前州长设立的委员会任职. 内森·迪尔，并在近十年前由已故的首席大法官哈里斯·海恩斯监督, 梅尔顿指出，目前的立法努力实际上是多年来的.

“There was a time when it was harder to make people believe that an increase in pay was necessary to maintain and recruit a good pool of judges to select from,” said Melton, 现在是亚特兰大Troutman Pepper公司的合伙人. “但我认为，我们现在实际上正处于这种情况下. Obviously, judges go into that work knowing that there is a substantial discount for public service. 不过，差距相当大. 这个折扣正变得越来越大.”

梅尔顿在进入私人执业前在最高法院工作了16年, 当时他说他正在“盯着”孩子们的大学学费. He said the dual challenge of retaining and replacing experienced judges should be of concern to all Georgians.

“你确实面临着法官在10年或15年后离职的前景，”他说. “如果你想让法官过了这一关, 可能需要某种形式的经济激励. It really is more acute with the appellate court judges because you are more likely to be in the Atlanta metro area, either because that’s where you live or because that’s where you’re traveling to on a regular basis and you have to have some form of housing if you’re substantially away from the Atlanta area, 比梅肯更远, perhaps.”

Reducing the inconsistency in local supplements for Superior Court judges among Georgia’s judicial circuits and how that impacts the pay difference between trial court judges and statewide appellate court judges is also a key component of reform, Melton said.

“上诉法官没有地铁巡回法院的补充, so that the supplements bring the trial court judges well above what the appellate court judges are making,” he noted. “我认为这是一个非常重要的系统，需要考虑如何进行重组. 这确实是一个杂乱无章的系统，因为它现在存在, the net effect being that probably at least one-third of the trial court judges make more than the appellate court judges. It takes some real effort to try to right-size salary structure and create a structure going forward that makes sense.”

梅尔顿说，他很高兴立法机关正在解决司法薪酬问题. “法官赚得足够多，人们不会为他们感到难过, 在今天的预算环境下，人们通常首先关注教师, 狱警之类的人,” he said. “法官和惩教人员的情况完全不同.

“但是你们优秀的法官有其他选择. 我们希望法官们能做些别的事情. 如果他们能做点别的事情, 他们很有可能至少赚两倍, easily. 对他们中的许多人来说，三到四倍的钱并不太可能. 法官们并没有要求立法机关支付他们两倍的薪水. But there are some things I think judges want to be able to provide for that a pay raise would be very helpful toward.”

Blackwell, a judge on the Court of Appeals of Georgia prior to serving as a Supreme Court justice from 2012 through 2020 and who is now senior counsel with Alston & 亚特兰大的鸟, amplified the differences between private practice income potential and that for members of the judiciary. 他还表示，有必要制定“建立框架”的立法条款 ... 防止司法赔偿因通货膨胀而减少.”

“没有人进入——或者至少，没有人应该进入——公共服务部门来致富，”他说. “公共服务不可避免地涉及个人牺牲, 尽管做出了牺牲, 我们很幸运，有许多有才华的律师愿意为格鲁吉亚的司法服务. 但是，我们对法官的个人牺牲的期望是有限的. If we want to continue to attract talented men and women to judicial service—and to keep them there—we have to pay them a comparatively fair wage in the context of the legal market. That first-year associates at Atlanta law firms are now paid substantially more than our appellate judges is just wrong, 而且这也是留住优秀法官的障碍.”

布莱克威尔补充说:“然而，给我们的法官一次性加薪是不够的. 展望未来, 司法赔偿必须与生活费用的增长保持同步, 在乔治亚州, 历史上没有. For instance, 我在上诉法院和最高法院的十年司法生涯中, 我的实际年薪减少了将近20美元,000. [资料来源:美国劳工统计局的CPI通胀计算器.年复一年, 由于通货膨胀，我的司法工资的购买力下降了, 当我的孩子们进入高中时, 开始开车，开始看大学, 对我的家庭来说，我的补偿金不断减少成为一个日益明显的问题. 它最终使我从司法部门退休，回到私人律师事务所. 我敢肯定，在乔治亚州的法官中，我的故事并不是独一无二的.”

López, 现在是我在亚特兰大德尔坎波·格雷森律师事务所López的律师合伙人, 同意梅尔顿和布莱克威尔法官的意见. “While having served the people of DeKalb as a judge for 11 years was one of the greatest honors of my professional life, 作为一名公务员的经济现实使我无法继续服务,” he said. “我有四个孩子, 当我的大孩子们快到上大学的年龄时, 很明显，我不能继续履行我的司法工资义务了, 特别是当我知道我在私营部门可以赚得更多的时候. 我的故事并不独特. 我认识的大多数离开的法官都不是因为他们想离开, 而是因为他们必须做对家庭经济有意义的事情.”

Adequate compensation for the leaders of Georgia’s judicial branch is sound and necessary public policy. “How are we to attract the best and brightest in our profession to serve in one of the most important roles in government if we don’t pay them what they need to take care of their families?” López asked. “当法官就是当公仆. 这是一种召唤，也是一种牺牲. 我很高兴为国家服务了11年，我的家人也很高兴在那段时间里做出这样的牺牲. 然而，如果我们想留住优秀的法官，这是一个必须解决的问题. 我不指望法官的薪酬会像大型律师事务所的私人合伙人那样高. 但法官至少应该像中级律师那样做.”

从广义上看, HB 947规定了最高法院法官的最高工资, 上诉法院法官, 州商业法院法官和高等法院法官. Specific salaries in each annual budget would be set through the General Assembly’s regular appropriations process.

The maximum salary structure for judges at each court level would be calculated at a formula tied each year to the salary of U.S. 两年前乔治亚州北部地区的地方法院法官. 最高法院法官的最高年薪将是这个数字的100%，即目前的223美元,400; for 上诉法院法官, 95% or $212,230; for the State-wide Business Court judge, 92% or $205,528; and for Superior Court judges, 90% or $201,060. The current local supplement system for Superior Court judges would be largely replaced by a “locality pay” addition of 10% of the judge’s salary, 使高等法院法官的总薪酬最高达221美元,166.

The proposal also provides for an “opt-in” requirement for current judges, who would have until Oct. 1 to opt in by filing a written notice with the Council of Superior Court Judges and the governing authority of each county in the circuit. 如果他们没有在截止日期前完成，他们将继续使用现行制度.

我赞扬众议院在2月6日以154-13的两党投票通过了HB 947. 15. 我希望参议院也能这样做，或者通过一个两党都能同意的版本. 布莱恩·坎普可以签署成为法律. The state of Georgia needs a compensation system that pays our judges competitively and consistently for the vital and increasingly difficult duties they fulfill in our system of justice.