# Frank Hoover Easterbrook

> Federal judicial disclosures.

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/disclosures/21663

## Record

- **Judge:** Frank Hoover Easterbrook
- **Year:** 2005
- **Pages:** 7

## Text

Spouse's income — Union League Clu> of Caicago — Signing »rivi..e
1.

(Part III):

I have received the approval of the Chief

Judge to teach at the University of Chicago. This income

therefore is “outside earned income” rather than an

“honorarium” within the meaning of the Ethics Reform Act of

1989. I accepted gross income exceeding the statutory cap

(15% of Level II of the Executive Schedule) because, under

§3(b) of the regulations of the Judicial Conference

implementing this statute, “outside earned income” includes

only net taxable income, and therefore

excludes pension

contributions as well as the “ordinary

and necessary

expenses paid or incurred in producing

this income.” Some

of the income reported in Part III was

contributed to a

pension plan through the University of

Chicago as part of a

salary reduction plan and therefore does not count for

statutory purposes. Moreover, the ordinary and necessary

expenses of producing the income-—including the cost of

commuting between the courthouse and the Law School, fees

for parking at the University, and the expenses of

equipment and books for my Law School office—are

substantial. Net taxable income is less than the statutory

maximum.

2.

(Part V) The Union League Club extends to federal judges

the privilege of using the Club’s facilities without formal

membership. During 2005 it charged $60 per month for these

privileges.

The difference between this and the market

value is a gift, but whether there is any difference and,

if so, its size, is difficult to determine. Judges pay the

same for meals, haircuts, and other services as do regular

members of the Club.

3.

(Part VII): Dividends and capital gain distributions

from the mutual funds marked

“See Part VIII” are reinvested

automatically monthly. Shares were purchased and sold in

the Vanguard Money Market Trust occasionally. I treat this

as a checking account, and as in past years I do not report

these flows (as opposed to year-end balances). No shares of

any other fund were sold in 2005.

4.

(Part VII): While I was employed full-time by the

University of Chicago preceding my appointment to the

court, and again since 1992, pension contributions under a

defined contribution plan were made on my behalf. TIAA-CREF

holds the funds contributed before 1983 (value code M).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/disclosures/21663. Public record. Not legal advice.