Judges’ appeal to stay on bench denied

A federal appeals court has upheld Pennsylvania's mandatory retirement age for state judges.

Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judges John W. Herron, 70, and Benjamin Lerner, 73, had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to overturn the state constitution's provision requiring them to step down at age 70. In a ruling Tuesday, a panel of three appellate justices rejected the request.

The judges said their hands were tied in light of a 1991 ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a similar rule in Missouri did not violate judges' constitutional rights.

— Jeremy Roebuck