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The New Jersey Constitution seems to be quite clear on
the question of whether or not Governor Chris Christie and the Legislature of this
state were within the letter and the spirit of that document when public employee
compensation reforms were codified into law in June, 2010.
Those reforms provided for increased
contributions by state employees for their pension and health benefits.
But – it seems – at least two members of the state judiciary
think that the law does not apply to them, claiming that this legislation
reduces their ‘salary’ under
provisions of New Jersey’s constitution.
A plain reading of that document is quiet clear on
this matter to anyone else with even a scintilla of common sense: “The
justices of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Superior Court shall
receive for their services such salaries as may be provided by law,
which shall not be diminished during the term of their appointment.”
(If you want more, Click
here for the full source of this quote and scroll down to the Judicial
section to read Paragraph 6, under Article VI, Section VI.)
Pretty simple, yet this has become a controversy which
is now headed to the New Jersey Supreme Court under pending appeal by the Christie
administration.
