Federal Judge (United States)
In the United States are as a federal judge ( Engl. Federal judge ) usually refers to those judges who in accordance with Article II Constitution of the United States by the president and appointed by the Senate were confirmed.
According to Article III, paragraph 1 of the Constitution is the judicial power in the Supreme Court of the United States and other under him and the Congress set up federal courts . Currently 13 are federal appeals courts (Engl. Courts of appeals ), 94 federal district courts (Engl. District courts ) and a court of International Trade (Engl. Court of International Trade ) was established. Any judge who has been appointed to one of the aforementioned courts (including the Supreme Court) is called a federal judge.
There are a few other federal courts that were not set up in accordance with Article III of the Constitution, but instead derive their decision-making power as institutions that are partially dependent on the legislature from Article I of the Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that while the establishment of such courts is permissible, their decision-making power is partially limited. However, the judges at these courts are occasionally referred to as federal judges. In order to distinguish them from the judges at the above-mentioned courts, they are often called " Non-Article III judges ".
Tenure and salary
“Article III judges” are generally appointed for life, so they only leave office upon their resignation or death. However, they can for serious infringements by Congress through impeachment (Engl. Impeachment will be removed) from the office. Whether there is also the possibility of indicting a federal judge for misconduct in a federal court and removing him from office is controversial in American jurisprudence.
Article III of the Constitution prohibits Congress from reducing the salaries of federal judges during their term of office. The annual salary of a federal district court judge is $ 201,100 per year, that of a federal appeals court judge is $ 213,300, and that of a Supreme Court judge is $ 246,800. In addition, income of a maximum of $ 21,000 for teaching activities is permitted.
Chief Justice John Roberts has repeatedly called for salaries to be increased because, in his opinion, underpaying federal judges leads to a lack of competence on the bench. In fact, a good lawyer earns as much as a federal judge in his first year as an associate in a well-known American law firm, and later as a partner in a large law firm significantly more. If the question then arises whether one should strive for a change to the office of judge, the prospect of the associated reputation contrasts with the prospect of a salary like in the first years of employment. As a result, Roberts fears that many good lawyers will only want to be judges for a short time, if at all, which would degrade the judiciary to a step on the corporate ladder and jeopardize the independence of the judiciary.
retirement
If a judge retires after he has reached the required age and seniority, he will receive remuneration in the full amount of his last salary for the rest of his life, plus compensation for increased living costs if necessary. The age required for this with at least 15 years of service as Article III judge is 65 years. For each year of service less, one more year is required, so that, for example, a 70-year-old also receives full pay after 10 years of service. Since the required sum of years of life and years of service is always 80, the regulation is also called the "Rule of 80".
Number of judges
The exact number of federal judges is constantly changing, as vacancies usually take some time to fill and new positions are occasionally created (or, less often, positions deleted) to cope with the changed workload in a judicial district.
In 2009 there were 874 federal judicial posts: nine at the Supreme Court, 179 at the appellate courts, 677 at the district courts, and nine at the International Trade Court. While the number of Supreme Court justices has always been the same, the number of appellate judges has doubled since 1950 alone, and the number of district judges even tripled.
Non-Article III judges
Federal courts that were set up by Parliament under Article I of the Constitution and whose judges are therefore not federal judges in the narrower sense of the word include the United States bankruptcy courts , the United States Tax Court and the court for claims against the state ( United States Court of Federal Claims ). Unlike Article III judges, the judges at these courts are not appointed for life, but for a fixed term of office.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saikrishna Prakash & Steven D. Smith, How To Remove a Federal Judge , 116 Yale Law Journal 72 (2006) ( Memento of 15 April 2012 at the Internet Archive )
- ^ Judicial Compensation . In: United States Courts . ( uscourts.gov [accessed October 30, 2018]).
- ↑ http://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/year-end/2006year-endreport.pdf 2006 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary
- ↑ http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode28/usc_sec_28_00000371----000-.html USC Title 28 Section 371
- ↑ http://www.uscourts.gov/Common/FAQS.aspx#FederalJudges US Courts.COM FAQs on Federal Judges
- ↑ 28 USC 371 - Sec. 371 Retirement - Historical And Revision Notes ( Memento of May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Judges & judgeships . In: United States Courts . ( uscourts.gov [accessed October 30, 2018]).
- ^ Federal Judicial Center .