Dictionary.net

The Constitution provides that the salaries of judges, voted by Congress, shall not be lessened during their term of office. When the courts were first organized in 1789, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was paid $4000, the Associate Justices $3500 each. The District Judges received from $1000 to $1800. These salaries have been raised from time to time. Since March, 1873, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has received $10,500; the Associate Justices $10,000; the Circuit Court Judges $6,000 each, and the District Judges from $3500 to $5000, until 1891, when the salary of all District Judges was fixed at $5000.