By Alanna Durkin
Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — Michigan would do away with a requirement barring judges older than 70 from being elected or appointed under a constitutional change a Senate panel unanimously approved recently.
Sen. Steve Bieda, a Warren Democrat who sponsored the measure, called Michigan’s age restriction “an anomaly” that doesn’t account for the fact that people are living longer today than when the state’s current constitution went into effect in 1964.
The average life expectancy today is nearly 80 years old, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
If the resolution is passed with a two-thirds vote in both the Republican-led Senate and House, the amendment will be placed on Michigan’s ballot during the next general election. Arguing in support of the bill, Bieda said no such age restrictions exist at the federal level. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retired in 2010 at the age of 90.
“I don’t believe in age discrimination,” said Committee Chairman Sen. Rick Jones, a Grand Ledge Republican, before approving the measure.
Michigan State Court Administrator Chad Schmucker, who testified before the committee, raised concerns about throwing out the age limit completely. A judge who is elected at the age of 80 “may have trouble” carrying out his or her duties at the age of 86, Schmucker said.
He said it would be “difficult and time consuming” to remove judges found unfit to serve later in life. Lawmakers should consider raising the age limit instead, he said.
Bieda said Schmucker’s concerns were something voters could consider if the amendment makes it onto the state’s ballot in 2014.
The Judiciary Committee approved a similar resolution to amend the constitution last year, but it was never voted on before the full Senate.
An April 2012 Michigan Judicial Selection Task Force report called for an end to the age limit for Michigan judges.
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