Getting What You Pay For: Judicial Compensation and Judicial Independence

One vital way of assuring judicial independence is to guarantee that judges need not fear that their salaries will be reduced if they render unpopular or controversial decisions. The United States Constitution seeks to do this by providing that all federal judges “shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.” As the Supreme Court explained in perhaps the leading case on the Compensation Clause, “[a] Judiciary free from control by the Executive and the Legislature is essential if there is a right to have claims decided by judges who are free from potential domination by other branches of government.”