Judicial Institutions and the Political Economy of Retirements

I examine judicial retirements among elected and unelected state supreme court justices. I present new data relating to justices’ economic incentives to retire. I develop theoretical expectations for the rationality of judicial departures based upon political, economic, and institutional factors. Results demonstrate that both elected and unelected justices time their retirements upon their pension eligibility. Nevertheless, the electoral connection may constrain justices from securing some of these benefits. I find only limited evidence that justices retire in order to influence the politics of their successors and virtually no evidence that elected justices retire out of fear of losing reelection.