Nine States Consider Hiking or Eliminating Retirement Age for Judges
Now that the Baby Boom generation is aging, nine states are considering legislation that would raise or eliminate the mandatory retirement age for judges.
The National Center for State Courts says 33 states have mandatory retirement for judges, the National Law Journal reports. Bills in five states propose increasing the retirement age, while bills in four others would eliminate it altogether.
Under current laws, only 19 states and the District of Columbia would allow Justice John Paul Stevens to remain on the bench, if he had been a state judge. Stevens announced his retirement last week, just 11 days before his 90th birthday.
Currently, Vermont has the oldest judicial retirement age—90—and it applies only to its supreme court justices. Twenty states set the age at 70, while the others require retirement at ages ranging from 72 to 75.
William Raftery, a court research analyst at the National Center for State Courts, told the NLJ that states are taking another look at the issue as Baby Boomers grow older, life expectancies increase, and more able judges are forced to retire.
