Ex-US Judge Hits ‘Disgraceful’ Pay Snub, Says It’s One Reason He Retired
Former U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas says a pay snub was one reason he retired at the end of January.
Formerly a federal judge in Bridgeport, Conn., Nevas notes that Congress gave itself a 2.8 percent cost of living adjustment last year, but gave no corresponding increase to federal judges, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports. Other federal employees got a 3.8 percent increase. Leaving judges out of the mix “was disgraceful,” Nevas told the newspaper.
“I don’t want to be remembered for leaving the bench because I was upset over pay,” Nevas told the Law Tribune. “Salary was one of [the reasons] but not the driving factor.”
If Congress doesn’t act, younger federal judges may leave the bench and go back to private practice, Nevas told the Law Tribune. He is following the same path, joining Levett Rockwood in Westport as a special counsel.
Nevas, who was making $169,300 a year, had been a federal judge for 23 years and was eligible for a pension at full pay. “I worked for nothing, because if I left I would’ve received the same as I was getting,” Nevas told the newspaper.
A lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Christopher Landau, agrees with Nevas’ complaint about the pay snub. Landau has filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven federal judges who claim their failure to get a pay increase violates Article III’s ban on diminished compensation for federal judges, the story says.
