Louisiana’s Judicial Compensation Commission met Monday in Baton Rouge, and after a long, at times complicated discussion, commissioners voted to recommend a major pay raise for Louisiana judges, adopting economist Dr. Loren Scott’s preferred model of a “catch-up” increase now, followed by automatic annual raises tied to inflation.
I told you last week that this meeting was unfolding under unusual pressure, and Monday’s discussion more or less confirmed it. Years of internal conflict inside the judiciary, new scrutiny of recent stipends and supplements, and widespread confusion about how to decide how much judges get paid all hung in the room. The meeting didn’t resolve those tensions, but it did move the numbers.
Dr. Loren Scott presented four possible paths for adjusting salaries but made his recommendation clear: judicial pay should keep pace with inflation. The Commission voted to adopt that approach…