Will Illinois judges block pension reform — to preserve their own pensions?

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

As state lawmakers move toward cuts in pensions for current Illinois workers, a little-noticed roadblock may exist: state judges, who get some of the sweetest little pensions around.

No one yet knows whether the judiciary would be exempt from any changes mandated by the General Assembly. All that's known for sure is that there's a big dispute over whether the Illinois Constitution allows benefits to be cut once a worker joins the payroll, with some good lawyers saying yes and others arguing no.

If judges are included in cuts, those same judges — at least some of them — would have to rule on the wider constitutional question of cuts for anyone. If they were excluded, they'd have less personal incentive to rule one way or the other.

Some big money is at stake here.

The self-regulating justice of government workers.