Court to hear dispute over changing judges’ retirement age
HARRISBURG (AP) – A proposed constitutional amendment to give state judges five more years before they have to retire is going back before an appeals court, less than two months after more than 2 million Pennsylvanians cast votes on the measure that weren’t counted.
Commonwealth Court will hear argument Thursday in the lawsuit by three Democratic state senators challenging the resolution that delayed the vote.
A judge ruled shortly before the April 26 primary election that any votes on the proposal would not count.
The defendants, two Senate Republican leaders and the secretary of state, argue the lawsuit lacks merit and want the vote to occur as scheduled during the November election.
The proposal would let the state’s approximately 1,000 justices, judges and district judges remain on the bench until age 75.