The state’s highest court issued a ruling Thursday that will affect every judge in the state. The state Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court and the final arbiter of issues involving the state’s Constitution, said Thursday it remains constitutional for judges to be forced to retire at a certain age.
Lawyers for three judges, an Appellate Division justice required to retire at the end of 2025 because he turned 70 that year, and two state Supreme Court judges, argued that adoption of the state’s Equal Rights Amendment in 2024 eliminated the age requirement because the amendment banned age discrimination.
A unanimous decision of the high court, however, said that a mandatory retirement age has been in place for 200 years and that a general ban on age discrimination does not automatically wipe out a specific rule that has been found to be constitutional.
The issue reaches into Central New York. Oneida City Court judge Michael Misiaszek and a judge from Erie County teamed up to sue over the rule and a state court in Madison County said the ban was unconstitutional. Thursday's ruling essentially ends the discussion and Misiaszek, who reached 70 years old last year, would have been forced to leave office on New Year’s Eve.
WRVO has reached out to his lawyer, Robert Julian of Utica, but has not received an immediate response.
