After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’ wife was soliciting advice on how to handle the new expenses. The month before, the justice had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV.
At the resort, Thomas gave a speech at an off-the-record conservative conference. He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.
Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told him. If lawmakers didn’t act, “one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.
At the time, Thomas’ salary was $173,600, equivalent to over $300,000 today. But he was one of the least wealthy members of the court, and on multiple occasions in that period, he pushed for ways to make more money. In other private conversations, Thomas repeatedly talked about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches.
That was the salary back when he was complaining which it appears would have been sometime in or around 2000.
It’s $253,361 now.
As the excerpt from the article states, the 173,600 would be over $300,000 today. So, you should really feel bad for the Supreme Court justices. Their salary raises haven’t kept up with inflation.
Seize the means of … jurisprudence?
Neither has the salary of the majority of Americans. Federal minimum wage has been decreasing in value due to inflation for almost 15 years.
That’s a good point, they should get more pay. You’d expect them to be among the highest paid government workers. Given that DC is a high cost of living city and software engineers at other high cost of living cities can make that and lawyers significantly more, I’d agree they are overdue for a significant raise.
That doesn’t excuse the corruption, and I doubt it would be enough to stop him crying poverty
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Maybe if the dumb fucks worked towards supporting the majority of the populous and not just the ones making more than 30 million a year and we’d have affordable living situations.