Judges leaving bad paying jobs

Judges from across New York are objecting to their salaries and are motioning away from the bench.
According to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the salaries of New York judges rank 46th in the country when adjusted for the cost of living. Judges in New York have not received raises in 12 years, forcing many to leave their judgeship in search of more economically fruitful positions.
“That’s been happening a long time,” said New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Golia, who will be stepping down in October. “There have been a lot of judges that have left, because there’s no money.”
Golia, who is 73-years-old and has been a judge for 29 years, is departing primarily for economic reasons.
“It’s because I really have to worry about my wife in terms of my pension,” said Golia, who serves in Queens. “The state has a crazy law that if I die when I’m on the bench, my wife doesn’t get any pension.”
If Golia decided not to retire and passed away while still serving, his wife, who is seven years his junior, would receive a taxable, lump sum payment equal to three times his yearly salary. Instead, he will step down, enjoy his wife, two children and four grandchildren and look for a job as a law consultant, where he expects to earn at least the same salary he currently receives without working as many hours. Golia assures he is still able to work and that he loves being a judge, but the threat of losing his pension is far too great a risk.
Former New York State Supreme Court Justice Leonard L. Finz, who retired from the bench in 1978 to become a partner at a firm in Manhattan, believes he was one of the first judges to leave for economic reasons.
“I wasn’t able to maintain my family because of the salary,” said Finz, who sat mainly in Queens County. “Leaving changed my lifestyle. It got me out of debt, and changed my whole economic standing. Just like ‘The Godfather,’ it was an offer that I couldn’t refuse.”
Finz, who currently runs his own practice, Finz and Finz, believes that if judges are not compensated fairly, it will be detrimental to the justice system and to New York as a whole.
“Losing an outstanding jurist like Supreme Court Justice Golia, who has served as a leader on the bench with an impeccable reputation for fairness and justice, creates a vacuum that cannot easily be filled,” he said. “The time has come when the judiciary of our state, who are the protectors of the rights and liberties of our citizens, receive the level of financial security to attract the most competent and dedicated members of the bar.”