DePascale v. New Jersey, A-34 September Term 2011; Supreme Court; opinion by LaVecchia and Albin, JJ., and Wefing, P.J.A.D., temporarily assigned; dissent by Patterson, J.; decided July 24, 2012. On appeal from the Law Division, Mercer County. [Sat below: Judge Feinberg.] DDS No. 56-1-7122 [85 pp.]

Article VI, Section 6, Paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution provides that justices and judges “shall receive for their services such salaries as may be provided by law, which shall not be diminished during the term of their appointment.” The Pension and Health Care Benefits Act, L. 2011, c. 78 — a law that applies to all public employees, including Supreme Court justices and Superior Court judges — will, over seven years, subject sitting justices and judges to a more than 400 hundred percent increase in their pension contributions (from 3 percent of salary to 12 percent) and a more than 100 percent increase in their health-care contributions (from 1.5 percent of salary to 35 percent of premium), without any corresponding salary increase. Thus, the take-home salaries of justices and judges will decrease in the range of $17,000, representing a more than 10 percent decline in their disposable income.