Cite as: 532 U. S. 557 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
those taxes discriminate. 449 U. S., at 226. Indeed, the Government itself "assume[s] that discriminatory taxation of judges would contravene fundamental principles underlying Article III, if not the [Compensation] Clause itself." Brief for United States 37, n. 27.
The Government also argues that there is no evidence here that Congress singled out judges for special treatment in order to intimidate, influence, or punish them. But this Court has never insisted upon such evidence. To require it is to invite legislative efforts that embody, but lack evidence of, some such intent, engendering suspicion among the branches and consequently undermining that mutual respect that the Constitution demands. Cf. Wilson, Lectures on Law, in 1 Works of James Wilson, at 364 (stating that judges "should be removed from the most distant apprehension of being affected, in their judicial character and capacity, by anything, except their own behavior and its consequences"). Nothing in the record discloses anything other than benign congressional motives. If the Compensation Clause is to offer meaningful protection, however, we cannot limit that protection to instances in which the Legislature manifests, say, direct hostility to the Judiciary.
Finally, the Government correctly points out that the law disfavored not only judges but also the President of the United States and certain Legislative Branch employees. As far as we can determine, however, all Legislative Branch employees were free to join a covered system, and the record provides us with no example of any current Legislative Branch employee who had failed to do so. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 16-17, 37-38. The President's pension is noncontributory. See note following 3 U. S. C. § 102. And the President himself, like the judges, is protected against diminution in his "[c]ompensation." See U. S. Const., Art. II, § 1. These facts may help establish congressional good faith. But, as we have said, we do not doubt that good faith. And we do not see why, otherwise, the separate and special exam-
577
Page: Index Previous 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007