Judicial Retirement Age.

As reported in the May 1 News, the Constitutional Revision Commission has approved eight amendments to appear on the November ballot. Six of these proposed amendments cover more than one topic. Amendment 6 bundles an immensely popular, albeit legally controversial, victims' rights proposal with two lesser known issues concerning the judiciary. Unfortunately, much of the media coverage, including the Bar News article, fails to adequately inform voters of a potentially devastating consequence of the proposal to increase the retirement age of judges.

Under our current constitution, judges must retire upon reaching the age of 70. But, there is an exception. The judge can complete a term, one-half of which has been served prior to the judge turning 70. Amendment 6 raises the mandatory retirement age to 75. It also eliminates the exception. If approved, the amendment will render every sitting judge ineligible to continue serving on their 75th birthday. The result will be that each judicial vacancy created by...