Welcome to the Friday, August 11, Brew.
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Mandatory retirement age for judges on the ballot in Texas and New Hampshire
- Eight states have certified 40 ballot measures for 2023
- Quiz: How does Biden’s number of judicial confirmations compare to recent presidents?
Mandatory retirement age for judges on the ballot in Texas and New Hampshire
Voters in two states will decide ballot measures that would raise the mandatory retirement age for judges.
- The Texas Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to the November 2023 ballot that would increase the mandatory retirement age for state judges from 75 to 79—the second-highest such age in the country.
- In March, the New Hampshire Legislature voted to send an amendment to the November 2024 ballot that would increase the state’s mandatory retirement age from 70 to 75.
Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have mandatory retirement ages for state justices. In 2003, Vermont adopted the highest retirement age for state judges at 90.
Ballotpedia has identified 12 ballot measures related to mandatory retirement ages for judges between 1952 and 2022. Seven of them were approved, and five were defeated. Pennsylvania was the last state to increase the mandatory retirement age for judges. In 2016, voters approved a measure raising the retirement age for Supreme Court justices, judges, and justices of the peace from 70 to 75, 51% to 49%.
Texas is one of eight states that currently has a mandatory retirement age of 75. Texas established its current mandatory retirement age in 1965 when voters approved Proposition 8, 73% to 27%. In 2007, the state modified this when voters passed Proposition 14, 75%-25%. That measure allowed judges elected to a six-year term who reach 75 during their first four years to stay in office until Dec. 31 of the fourth year.
Eight states have certified 40 ballot measures for 2023
As of Aug. 8, eight states have certified 40 ballot measures for voters to decide in 2023. An average of 27 measures were certified at this point between 2011 and 2021 in odd-numbered years.
Meanwhile, 47 ballot measures have been certified for the 2024 ballot in 22 states. An average of 45 measures were certified at this point between 2010 and 2022 in even-numbered years. From 2010 to 2022, an average of 164 statewide measures were certified for the ballot in even-numbered years.
Two new 2024 measures were certified for the ballot last week, and supporters of a 2023 initiative submitted additional signatures for verification.
- California voters will decide whether to repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which prohibits rent control on single-family homes built after 1995. That law also bans rent control laws that mandate what a landlord can charge tenants when they first move in. The initiative would also prohibit the state from limiting “the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” It does not prohibit laws that protect renters, such as the existing statewide limit on rent increases.
- Voters in Maine will decide in 2024 whether to replace the current state flag, which features the state’s coat of arms. Maine’s original state flag has a green pine tree and a blue North Star on a light tan background. The state adopted the original flag in 1901 and changed to the current state flag in 1909. In 2020, Mississippi voters adopted a new state flag that a state commission designed, 73% to 27%.
- Supporters of the Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative submitted an additional 6,545 signatures to the secretary of state’s office on Aug. 3 after the state gave the campaign 10 additional days to collect 679 valid signatures. The initiative would legalize the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home growth, and use of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.
Quiz: How does Biden’s number of judicial confirmations compare to recent presidents?
As of Aug. 1, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 140 federal judges during President Joe Biden’s (D) first term in office. This number is greater than the number of federal judges confirmed as of this point in the following recent presidencies:
a) Bill Clinton
b) Barack Obama
c) Donald Trump