Utah's youngest federal judge resigns

When President Bush appointed Paul G. Cassell to the federal bench he was 42, making him the youngest federal judge ever to be appointed to the bench in Utah. Just over five years later, Cassell says he is stepping down to teach and pursue research on victim's rights, but cited dismal judicial pay as a secondary reason.

On Friday, Cassell sent a letter to President Bush, informing him of his resignation, which is effective Nov. 5. In the letter, Cassell said he had accepted an offer to return to teaching law at the S.J. Quinney College of law at the University of Utah.

"Returning to the college of law will give me time to pursue research in my area of greatest scholarly interest — crime victim's rights. I have several important books and articles on this topic that I would like to turn to as quickly as possible," Cassell wrote to the president.

"I am both honored and thrilled that Judge Cassell has decided to accept an offer to return to teach and conduct research at the U.," said law school dean Hiram Chodosh. "He will contribute invaluably to our exciting and exemplary Utah Criminal Justice Center and joins the most outstanding criminal justice team in the country."

Cassell said he looked forward to moving from a "referee's role to an advocate's role," when it comes to crime victims' rights. "We're at a pivotal point in our country's history in determining how we're going to move from a two-party, state-versus-defendant model to a three-party model that recognizes the legitimate interests of victims."

Among his reasons for leaving the bench, Cassell told the president that pay was also an issue. Cassell makes $165,200 a year but said federal judges have not seen a raise in several years. The uncertain future of any raises makes planning for his family's future, such as college for his children, difficult, he said. This in light that being a federal judge involves high stress and it is typical for them to receive death threats on them and their families.