Rhode Island is excellent at creating this sort of situation, as Kathy Gregg reports:

The judge in the state’s high-stakes pension case has appointed Frank Williams, the retired chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, as a “special-master” in the case, as it hurtles towards an April 20 trial date.

Yes, the retired state judge.  According to the RIOpenGov state pension module, Williams received $146,605 in pension payments during fiscal year 2013.  That’s after 13 years, having put in $159,131 in his own contributions.

Admittedly, the pension system is a tough one, but it is a good example of how a big, intricately active government leads to situations that ought to be laughable.  As obvious as the self interest is, it’s less obvious which way it might swing.  On the one hand, if the state can modify pension deals, it might one day come for more from Williams and his fellow retired judges.  On the other hand, if he upholds the reform as currently written, there’s (slightly) less chance that the legislature will find it necessary to review pensions again.