Opinion ID: 1702660
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Recommendation Four:

Text: A judge who is otherwise qualified to serve as a senior judge, and who applies for assignment as a senior judge within a year of retirement, should be eligible for assignment without review of attorney input. An initial determination of eligibility would therefore be based on education, employment, and Judicial Qualifications Commission screenings, but would not require review of attorney input. The Supreme Court asked the committee to address the question of whether there should be a requirement for review or evaluation of a senior judge's work. The committee agreed that while the quality of judicial work performed by senior judges in Florida is consistently very high, the chief justice should nonetheless direct that every senior judge be subject to periodic review. Regarding the frequency of such review, the committee deems a three-year cycle to be appropriate. This would allow synchronization with the existing three-year judicial education cycle. The committee furthermore recognized that one's ability to perform complex tasks invariably diminishes with age, though the rate of decline is different for different individuals. Because of this fact of life, the committee concluded that, consistent with the mandatory retirement provision of the Florida Constitution, those who are constitutionally required to retire should be subject to more frequent review. A two-tiered system is therefore recommended by the committee, dependent on age.