Maine's chief justice urges higher pay for judges, $1.5M for more marshals
Maine Chief Justice Leigh Saufley is urging legislators to boost funding for courthouse safety and judges' salaries, in line with recent recommendations by an independent commission.
Besides calling for raising annual pay for lawmakers and the governor, the commission suggested increasing judicial salaries to $150,000 for district and superior court judges, $169,000 for members of the Supreme Judicial Court, and $184,000 for the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.
"Now, I am not going to tell you that Maine judges will work harder if you compensate them more fairly," Saufley said in her annual state of the judiciary speech earlier this week in Augusta."They already work as hard as anyone I know.
"But by making that compensation more commensurate with their colleagues in every other State, you will acknowledge the importance and the value of their excellent work."
She added, "Even more important, your decision will tell the public that you recognize the value to this democracy of an independent system of justice."
Saufley also threw her support behind the commission's recommendations to raise the salaries of lawmakers as well as the governor, while acknowledging that she was "stepping out my lane” in doing so.
$1.5M for 19 more courthouse marshals
On the issue of safety, Saufley said just over $1.5 million is needed for 19 additional courthouse marshals in order to ensure 100% screening in every facility.
Citing a recent reported incident, she spoke of how marshals at an unnamed entry screening station discovered an individual carrying two undisclosed, loaded handguns. Because of the presence and quick action of the marshals at the screening station, the individual was disarmed and no one was injured, she said.
But "if an individual carrying similar weapons had gone into one of the 35% of Maine’s courthouses that did not have entry screening that day, we could be having a very different conversation today.
"It is time to finish the work we started," Saufley said.
Looking back at Maine's recent judicial accomplishments, she pointed to substantial improvements in case processing, including complex business docket cases that used to require three or four years and are now being resolved in less than a year. She also said more traffic cases are being resolved online.
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