Dead Last

• Publication year: 2019
• Pages: 06
• Citation: Vol. 88 No. 1 Pg. 06

Dead Last No. 88 J. Kan. Bar Assn 1, 06 (2019) Kansas Bar Journal January, 2019

by Chief Justice Lawton Nuss

Baseball manager Leo "The Lip" Durocher once declared, "Nice guys finish last." If this Hall of Famer is correct, then all 167 of Kansas' district court judges must be "nice guys"-because nationally they have now finished dead last in judicial pay.^[1]

This stark fact, while disappointing, was nevertheless foreseeable. According to the National Center for State Courts, compared to their counterparts, our district court judges have endured a steady decline in the national rankings—from 37th in 2007 to 51st in 2018. Even when the salary drop is adjusted for regional differences in cost of living, their national ranking still slumped from 19th to 43rd during those 11 years.

This deterioration should be troubling to the more than 15,000 lawyers in Kansas as you consider the future of a judiciary historically entrusted with making life-changing decisions for your clients, families, and communities. The constant financial fall-off requires us to ask: "What value do we really place on the Rule of Law and judicial excellence in Kansas?" And at that question's core, "What value do we place on justice itself?"

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy made related points in 2007 when he criticized the neglectful approach Congress had taken toward judicial salaries. After telling a Senate subcommittee that "Judicial independence presumes judicial excellence," he cautioned that because of this financial neglect, "judicial excellence is in danger of erosion."^[2] The Justice warned, "Without a functioning, highly qualified, efficient judiciary, no nation can hope to guarantee its prosperity and secure the liberties of its people."

Kansas district court judges' salaries have not only dropped to dead last in the national rankings. But also, their fall has been worsened by the continual loss of earning power. Lawyers know that under the Kansas Constitution, the people protect their judiciary's independence (and thus excellence) by requiring that the salaries of judges generally not be diminished during their terms in office.^[3] While their salaries have not been expressly diminished by the legislature, Kansas judges have not received salary adjustments that kept pace with inflation. For example, a district judge's 2007 salary ($117,109) would be comparable to a salary of $142,021 in 2018 dollars.^[4] But with judges actually being paid...