How much have sentencing issues contributed to federal judicial resignations?

Following on the heels of the recent resignation of Judge Paul Cassell, this post over at the WSJ Law Blog has these basic numbers documenting the rise in resignations in recent decades:

• 1958-69: 3 federal circuit and district court judges departed
• 1970-79: 22 departures
• 1980-89: 41 departures
• 1990-99: 55 departures
• 2000-2009: 68 (51 departures already: 17 are projected departures)

Though the WSJ folks and others spotlight salary issues as the prime culprit in the judicial flight, the impact of sentencing issues should not be completely overlooked.  At least a handful of judges have mentioned the injustices of the federal sentencing system when giving reasons for their resignation. For example, as detailed here, SDNY District Judge John Martin said he was resigning from the federal bench because “Congress has tried to micromanage the work of the commission and has undermined its efforts to provide judges with some discretion in sentencing or to ameliorate excessively harsh terms.”

Though dollars and cents surely is the main reason for many judicial departures, the role of justice and sentencing is certainly also an important and interesting part of the story.