Six judges, including some of the most prominent ones sitting in Philadelphia, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the Commonwealth Court challenging the constitutionality of the requirement that all Pennsylvania justices and judges retire at the end of the year in which they turn 70.
The plaintiffs include: Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge John W. Herron, administrative judge of the trial division, which includes civil and criminal cases; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Sandra Mazer Moss, who until earlier this fall was the coordinating judge of mass torts and other cases in the Complex Litigation Center; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Benjamin Lerner, who oversees the homicide program; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph D. O’Keefe, administrative judge of the Orphans’ Court; Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge John J. Driscoll, administrative judge of the juvenile court; and Northampton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Leonard N. Zito.
