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(1) To reaffirm the position and the desire of attracting the highest quality of attorneys to the federal bench and retaining them as judges once selected; and

(2) To petition the Congress of the United States to enact immediately legislation providing providing the salary increases for federal judiciary as recommended by the Quadrennial Commission, and to implement a system which provides regular increases in the salaries of federal judges as needed.

Passed at the Executive Committee meeting of the Richmond Bar Association, unanimously, this day of April, 1989.

Attest:

Secretary

President
Richmond

Bar Association

~JORITY & ̈MBERS

JACK BROOKS, TEXAS, CHAIRMAN

ROBERT W RASTENMEIER, WISCONSIN
DON EDWARDS. CALIFORNIA
JOHN CONVERS, JA, MICHIGAN
ROMANO L MAZZOLI, KENTUCKY
WILLIAM J. HUGHES, NEW JERSEY
MILE SYNAR OKLAHOMA
PATRICIA SCHROEDER COLORADO
DAN GLICKMAN, KANSAS
BARNEY FRANK, MASSACHUSETTS
GEO W. CROCKETT, JR, MICHIGAN
CHARLES E. SCHUMER NEW YORK
BRUCE A MORRISON, CONNECTICUT
EDWARD F. FEGHAN ONIO
LAWRENCE J SMITH, FLORIDA
HOWARD L BERMAN, CALIFORNIA

RICK BOUCHER, VIRGINIA

MARLEY O STAGGERS, JR., WEST VIRGINIA

JOHN BRYANT, TEXAS

BENJAMIN L CARDIN, MARYLAND

GEORGE E BANGMEISTER, ILLINOIS

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Thank you for your letter of May 23, 1989, regarding the need to increase the salaries of Federal judges. Your letter was originally sent to Chairman Jack Brooks, who brought your views to my attention.

I have been holding hearings on the general subject of Judicial Independence and will insert your views in the hearing record.

year.

I do expect action on the pay raise issue to occur this
Again, thanks for your views.

Sincerely

RWK: mrj

ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER
Chairman

Subcommittee on Courts,

Intellectual Property and the
Administration of Justice

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As a senior partner of this firm, I have commenced the thirty-first year in my trial practice of intellectual property cases, almost always in federal courts or agencies. When the last pay raise bill for federal judges and legislators was recently defeated, I observed first hand the profound disappointment of several U.S. District Court judges with whom I then was working in pending litigations.

Your committee undoubtedly has received numerous submissions criticizing the failure to increase compensation for judges and urging that such a remedy is well deserved and long overdue. From long personal experience with the high caliber of the federal bench, I unequivocally share that view and could offer a similar brief in support of the need for prompt remedial action.

However, it may perhaps be more effective for me to share with you an insight I received long ago into the special demands that are made upon persons such as judges, due to the very nature of their decision making responsibilities.

At age 20 in 1951, I was engaged to a lovely young woman, a little junior to me in years. Our happiness was complete and the prospect of a lifetime together like a miracle.

By

She developed a malignant brain tumor. Surgery removed most of the mass, but the fine roots embedded in the brain could not be reached despite heavy post-operative radiation therapy. the time I returned two years later from military service in Korea, the cancer had regrown. Her mother telephoned when she

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Thank you for promptly calling to my attention the failure
of my response to you to address the points raised in your
thoughtful letter concerning the need of our Federal judges for a
pay increase.

Indeed I recall your letter and the poignant description of the insight you received into the nature of the special demands that are made upon persons, such as judges, due to the very nature of their decisionmaking responsibilities. I fully agree with your assessment of the need to adequately compensate Federal judges in order to permit them to devote the highest concentration and effectiveness to their work. This is true of almost all, if not all, high level Government jobs as well. Because I view it as imperative that we attract and retain more of our highly talented citizens for the judiciary and other government service, I believe the pay raise must again be addressed by the Congress as soon as possible.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your insights and
your analysis of this important issue, and I am taking the
liberty of bringing your comments to the attention of Congressman
Robert W. Kastenmeier, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts,
Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice, which
has jurisdiction over this issue.

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The Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier, Chairman

Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the
Administration of Justice

PENNIE & EDMONDS

Jack B. Brooks, Chairman

May 23, 1989
Page 2.

lapsed into semi-consciousness. Prostrate in my arms, I carried her from her home into my car for the trip to the hospital.

Her mother and I entered the surgeon's office. He explained that although the operation could be repeated, Joyce would survive at most another six months or so, possibly in a vegetative condition. The malignancy could not be fully removed or cured and early death was inevitable. She was by now comatose and, if left alone, would expire in a matter of days without pain. Having become widowed while I was abroad and knowing no one else who cared more for Joyce, her mother turned to me and asked: "Berj, what should we do?" The enormity of the question devastated me. In a moment, I broke down into sobbing and anguish over what I had been asked. To choose between my natural instinct of trying to do everything possible to save Joyce now, versus doing nothing, as best for her in the long term, was too difficult and terrible a burden. I did not want to face or make this decision, and wanted it taken away from me. But, of course, the decision had to be made, no matter how hopeless or tragic. So, after recovering, I agreed with her mother that the best course would be to take no further measures. In the evening of the next day, Joyce's life ended at age 20.

This searing experience remains as vivid today as when I lived it. I think in that one terrible moment something akin to maturity, wisdom and deep understanding of the weight of critical decision making entered my psyche, creating a perspective I have never forgotten.

In capital cases, our judges are required to pass upon whether lives should remain free, or imprisoned, or terminated. In civil cases, they must decide whether property should be encumbered, dispossessed, disowned, or the converse. I am certain they have to live with daily concern over the finality of what they do and the impact of their decisions upon human lives. A deep commitment toward reaching the right decision is their duty, and in my experience no judge has ever sought to accomplish anything less.

Such work necessarily demands long hours of perserverance, conscientiousness and dedication, at the sacrifice of family, leisure time and personal pleasure. Perhaps not always at the same intensity as I experienced on that awful day at the hospital, it is nonetheless clear to me that the burdens and pressures judges bear in decision making are similar. Being the

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