Voters Could Raise Retirement Age for Judges

New Yorkers are being asked to vote on six referendums on Tuesday, including whether the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges should be increased.

If passed, those judges would be allowed to work until they turn 80 years old instead of 70. 

The retirement age debate is not getting nearly as much attention as the casino referendum, but political leaders are weighing in. 

Robert Danzi of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association told NY1 that the current age cap is outdated. He said "the current age limitation comes from 1869, and now, we're here over 150 some odd years later, and the age of retirement is the same as it was in 1869, when the average life expectancy was 40."

The New York Bar Association also supports increasing the retirement age. 

But New York City-based activist group Citizens Union argues against the measure.

In a statement, the group said "there is no principled reason for raising the retirement age for only two groups of judges – judges of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court – and not having the same apply to the majority of the state's judges.  Further, even the amendment's limited changes appear arbitrary."