Opinion ID: 846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The issue in Williams

Text: The suit in Williams flowed from the enactment in 1989 of a statute that included provisions designed to ameliorate the increasing inequities in judges' compensation, resulting from periods of high inflation. Thus the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, Pub.L. No. 101-194, 103 Stat. 1716, established that the salaries of judges, members of Congress, and certain other senior government officials would be adjusted automatically in any year in which a cost-of-living adjustment was made for all federal civil servants under the General Schedule. The Act barred the receipt of honoraria from any source, and limited compensation in other areas such as teaching. The judges have continued to comply with the restrictions set in the 1989 Act. However, for the 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999 fiscal years, Congress enacted legislation barring the automatic cost-of-living adjustments established by the 1989 Act. These enactments led to the Williams case, the plaintiffs raising concerns of undue linkage with the political branches, and arguing that since the 1989 Act provided automatic adjustments for judges, Congress' blocking legislation effectively reduced the judges' salaries in violation of the Compensation Clause. Although the district court agreed with the plaintiffs, a split panel of the Federal Circuit held that the Court's decision in United States v. Will validated these blocking actions, and that no unconstitutional diminishment in judicial compensation occurred in any year in which Congress voided the cost-of-living adjustment before the start of the payment year. The panel majority rejected the plaintiffs' argument that the 1989 Act precluded such congressional action, and this court denied rehearing en banc, amid controversy. These issues are again presented, this time by the Beer appellants, again raising fundamental issues of constitutional import that have never been addressed by the en banc court. It is our obligation to consider these issues, particularly in view of subsequent events.