Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Amendment limits ability to get federal judges as speakers

By: dmc-admin//March 3, 2008//

Amendment limits ability to get federal judges as speakers

By: dmc-admin//March 3, 2008//

Listen to this article

One of Wisconsin’s U.S. senators, Russell Feingold, is engaged in a mission that borders on demagoguery. Feingold has managed to amend the long-overdue pay raise for federal judges, to include a prohibition on federal judges receiving more than $2,000 in compensation or reimbursement for speaking or attending educational programs, unless it is sponsored by the federal or state government, or a bar association (geographic or subject matter based).

Aimed at eliminating “junkets” the low cutoff has the practical effect of preventing judges from attending educational programs outside of a small geographic area.

Doug Lederman’s article on the Inside Higher Ed Web site shows the type of problems this would create:

“‘We brought Justice [Antonin] Scalia to our campus, and the airfare alone for two roundtrip, first class tickets [for the justice and his wife] was almost $5,000,’ said Thomas Cleary, director of community and government relations at the University of San Diego. With a $2,000 cap per trip, San Diego would ‘probably be unable to get him to come out again,’ and the $20,000 annual cap per judge — which was raised from $5,000 in an earlier version of Feingold’s amendment — would greatly intensify competition among law schools to get in-demand judges in front of their students, he said.”

The measure appears to be the work of a George Soros-financed organization called the Community Rights Counsel.

It has been widely criticized by organizations that would be adversely affected, and recently, law schools are joining the chorus in condemning this amendment. The Judicial Conference of the United States has also condemned the amendment.

As attorneys practicing in the same state that Sen. Feingold represents, with an interest in a federal judiciary that is free to pursue continuing education, we too should be letting him know that we disapprove of this amendment, and intend to express our disapproval with our votes and campaign contributions.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests