Matturri v. Board of Trustees of the Judicial Retirement System

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

PORITZ, C.J.

This appeal raises an issue of statutory construction affecting survivorship benefits under the Judicial Retirement System Act, N.J.S.A 43:6A-1 to -47 (JRSA or Act). More specifically, the Court must decide whether such benefits are calculated once at the time a member of the retirement system dies, or rather, are adjusted periodically after a member’s death to reflect increases in judges’ salaries that occur later.

I

Appellants are Dorothy Matturri, (widow of the late Judge Alexander Matturri), Phyllis Healy and her minor children (the widow…