California Chief Justice Decides to Retire ‘While the Proverbial Music Still Plays’
Turning 70 was something of a turning point for California Chief Justice Ronald George.
The justice attributes his surprise decision to retire to some careful reflection spurred by his 70th birthday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.
“My 70th birthday this year focused my attention on a question recently posed by my family: Why file for re-election for another 12-year term, after having authored hundreds of judicial opinions and overseen major administrative reforms in the judicial system? What more do you hope to accomplish other than refining and preserving what has been achieved?” George said. “Reflection convinced me now is the right time—while I am at the top of my game—to leave while the proverbial music still plays, and return to private life.”
George told reporters that his huge workload was all-consuming, the Los Angeles Times reports in a separate story.
“Virtually all my daylight hours were consumed with my administrative and case-related chores, and my workload—and I am not complaining—literally tripled when I went from being an associate justice to chief,” he said. “It was getting difficult to get more than five minutes of pleasure reading before I went to bed.”
George, a moderate Republican, may be best known for his majority opinion that briefly legalized same-sex marriage in California. After voters passed a referendum overturning the decision, George wrote an opinion upholding the ban. He has been chief justice since 1996.
