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the compensation of a judge shall not be
reduced during his continuance in office,
does this statutory provision in effect,
freeze the hands of the General Assembly
to provide for judges appointed under the
system thereafter, a lower uniform com-
pensation?
I am not sure I make my point clear.
I am concerned that we are taking away
from the General Assembly the few pre-
rogatives they have left.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: In this
schedule of salaries that we are setting up
in the legislation, we are not reducing any
salaries because we are picking the high
salary across the board.
If the legislature wanted after this
schedule goes into effect, to reduce the
salary of any judge, I think it would be
as a practical matter totally impossible to
do, because you could not reduce any with-
out running afoul of the constitutional
mandate against reduction of the salary.
If you tried to do it across the line, you
would hit at least one such judge, it seems
to me. If you tried to hit one judge, you
would then run afoul of your requirement
that there be a uniform salary across the
board, so I do think you have affected the
power of the General Assembly to decrease
the salary of the new judge.
THE CHAIRMAN: I am not sure that
I followed clearly all the implications of
the question, but there is, is there not,
Delegate Hardwicke, a provision in the
constitution that would authorize the Gen-
eral Assembly to reduce the salaries of
judges applicable to judges thereafter ap-
pointed?
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Yes, but
as I understand it, in keeping your salary
level uniform throughout the four-tier sys-
tem, it occurs to me that if you changed
one salary at any point, you would have to
change every other salary.
THE CHAIRMAN: Except for the spe-
cific provision that I have in mind that I
think was finally adopted.
Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Mr. Chairman, I
think section 5.24 of the judicial article,
particularly sentence 3, answers Delegate
Gleason's question.
THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, that is the sec-
tion that I have in mind. It reads, Dele-
gate Gleason : "Judges of the same courts
shall be paid the same compensation in-
cluding any pension based upon length of
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service, except that a uniform reduction in
compensation may be made applicable to
all judges of the same court appointed
after the effective date of the reduction."
Are there any further questions as to
section 30? Section 31? Section 32? Section
33? Section 34? Section 35? Section 36?
Section 37? Section 38? Section 39? Sec-
tion 40? Section 41? Section 42?
(Tli ere was no response to these ques-
tions.)
That brings us to the schedule of legis-
lation beginning on page 15.
Delegate Rybczynski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: I was out
of the room in legislative reference while
you were on section 28. Did anyone make
clear that the present fifteen-year terms of
present judges will not be affected? Is that
clear in the reading of this section 28 on
page 9?
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: That is
our intention, Delegate Rybczynski.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Rybczyn-
ski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: The way
it says "at the expiration of his term pur-
suant to and for the term prescribed by
section 5.22 — ". It would be disastrous if
someone were to interpret that as meaning
the present terms pursuant to the new
section.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: I think he
is referring probably to section 20.
THE CHAIRMAN: No. I think his
problem is one of grammar, or language.
And this may be a matter that should be
clarified. In section 28, the first four lines
read: "Any judge of any court continued
in office pursuant to this schedule shall
stand for retention in office at the expira-
tion of his term pursuant to and for the
term prescribed by section 5.22." The word
"pursuant to" in line 40 is not referring
to the phrase "expiration of his term",
but refers instead to his retention in of-
fice, so perhaps it should be rearranged.
The sentence means shall stand for reten-
tion in office pursuant to section 5.22 upon
the expiration of his term.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Thank
you. That is a good point of it, Mr. Chair-
man.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Penniman,
can your secretary make a note of it? She
has it.
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