Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for judges of United States federal courts. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of federal service, they are allowed to assume senior status. When that happens, they receive the full salary of a judge but work only part-time. Additionally, senior judges do not occupy seats; instead, their seats become vacant, and the President may appoint new full-time judges to fill their spots. Depending on how heavy a caseload they carry, senior judges are entitled to maintain a staffed office, including a secretary and one or more law clerks.

Statutory requirements

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Senior status is defined by statutory law, specifically 28 U.S.C. §371. To be in senior status, §371(e)(1) requires that a judge must be annually certified by the Chief Justice as having met at least one of the following criteria:

• Having carried, in the preceding calendar year, a caseload involving courtroom participation which is equal to or greater than the amount of similar work which an average judge in active service would perform in three months. §371(e)(1)(a).
• Having performed, in the preceding calendar year, substantial judicial duties not involving courtroom participation, but including settlement efforts, motion decisions, writing opinions in cases that have not been orally argued, and administrative duties for the court to which the justice or judge is assigned. §371(e)(1)(b).
• Having performed substantial administrative duties, either directly relating to the operation of the courts, or for a Federal or State governmental entity. §371(e)(1)(d)

In addition, §371(e)(1)(e) provides that a judge not meeting these criteria may still be certifified as being in senior status by the Chief Justice anyway, provided that the judge did not meet those criteria "because of a temporary or permanent disability."

History

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In 1919, Congress created the senior status option for inferior court judges. Before the senior status option was created, a judge who reached the age of seventy with at least ten years of service as a federal judge was allowed to retire and receive a pension for the rest of his life; afterwards, a judge who qualified for retirement could instead assume senior status. In 1937, the senior status option was extended to Supreme Court justices. A senior justice is essentially an at-large senior judge, able to be assigned to any court by the Chief Justice, but receiving the salary of a retired justice.

In 1954, Congress modified entry requirements for the senior status option. Federal judges or justices could still assume senior status at seventy with ten years of service, but they could also assume senior status at 65 with fifteen years of service. In 1984, the requirements were further modified to what is often called the "Rule of 80": once a judge or justice reached age 65, any combination of years of age and years of service on the federal bench which totaled to eighty entitled the judge to assume senior status.

Senior status was not originally known as such. In 1919, when the senior status option was created, a judge who had assumed what we now call "senior status" was referred to as a "retired judge." The title of "senior judge" was instead used to refer to the active judge with the most seniority in a given court; after 1948, this notion was formalized and modified under the new title of "chief judge". In 1958, the term "senior judge" was given its current meaning of a judge who had assumed senior status.

Constitutionality

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Some authors have suggested that senior status may be unconstitutional. See S. Stradd & R. Scott, Are Senior Judges Unconstitutional?, 92 Cornell L. Rev. __.

References

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• 28 U.S.C. §371 - statutory authorization and criterion for senior status.

• (Word document, 89 kB)

Retirement in the United States | Judicial branch of the United States government

Senior status