Constitutional Amendment B - Amendment Increasing the Mandatory Retirement Age of Judges

Summary

A "for" vote supports increasing the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court justices and district court judges from age seventy (70) to age seventy-five (75).

An "against" vote opposes increasing the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court justices and district court judges to age seventy-five (75). The mandatory retirement age would remain at age seventy (70).

Arguments

"We have a lot of good judges that are forced to retire at 70. They are not ready for retirement, nor should they be. They're still doing a great job for our state. It will actually be a money saver because we won't be putting them on a pension plan as early." - Rep. Barry Crago, in support of Constitutional Amendment B (Learn more)

"Amendment B implicates the overall wellbeing of our courts, including fair representation of women throughout the court system. Over the next fifteen years, Amendment B will mandate retirement for only three women out of thirteen district and supreme court judges — 23%. In other words, 77% of the immediate beneficiaries of Amendment B will be men. Supporters of Amendment B have told stories about older judges (almost all men) forced into retirement too early. But, where are the stories of the brilliant mid-career women lawyers? Amendment B will stall the work of the judicial nominating commission and the current trend to appoint more women judges. What will we tell the women whose opportunity to serve as judges, or to be promoted within the judiciary, will be unfairly delayed or denied because of Amendment B?" - Bern Haggerty, attorney and Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Section of the Wyoming State Bar, in opposition to Constitutional Amendment B (Learn more)

Measure Details