Wow. A judge with a conscience!

Choke on this one, Rendell, you fat crook!

The York Dispatch: Judge files lawsuit so she can give up raise

PITTSBURGH -- Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin has filed a lawsuit to refuse her 11 percent pay raise.

Orie Melvin said she does not want the raise, which increased her annual salary from $145,658 to $162,100.

Only Slow Eddie Rendell thinks she can't put her kids through college on 145 Gs a year.

The raise was part of a legislative pay hike enacted in July 2005, but repealed in November 2005, after public criticism. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reinstated the raises for judges last month.

Orie Melvin had previously asked that her pay be reduced, but court officials cited "legal, policy and administrative considerations" in refusing to do so. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has told Melvin she can give back the money, but that she would be taxed as though she accepted it and would also receive a bump in her pension, according to her attorney.

The suit said nothing in the Supreme Court's ruling requires Orie Melvin to take a raise she does not want.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Commonwealth Court, named the state Treasurer's Office and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. Officials with each department declined to comment.