It's unclear to me which has sweetest retirement system: California public employees or California judges. They're both pretty choice. They'd be even more choice if you combined them, and let a municipal employee who was appointed as a judge get benefits from the public employees' plan at his higher judicial salary.
That's what Judge Abraham Kahn, up in L.A., wanted to do. So he filed suit. Not surprisingly, every judge in L.A. was disqualified, so the case was heard by Judge Glass from O.C. Who held in favor of Judge Kahn.
But the Court of Appeal reverses in a split decision. Sorry. You'll just have to retire on the usual -- very generous -- terms.
I don't have any substantive comments about the decision itself. Both the majority as well as the dissent make decent points, and the proper resolution essentially comes down to one's view of the relevant statutory language as well as the appropriate level of deference.
Still, it's unusual to see a sitting judge file a lawsuit. So I thought this one was worth mention. Even if you're not a judge looking to up your level of retirement benefits.
