28 U.S.C. § 371 : US Code - Section 371: Retirement on salary; retirement in senior status

Search 28 U.S.C. § 371 : US Code - Section 371: Retirement on salary; retirement in senior status

(a) Any justice or judge of the United States appointed to hold
office during good behavior may retire from the office after
attaining the age and meeting the service requirements, whether
continuous or otherwise, of subsection (c) and shall, during the
remainder of his lifetime, receive an annuity equal to the salary
he was receiving at the time he retired.
(b)(1) Any justice or judge of the United States appointed to
hold office during good behavior may retain the office but retire
from regular active service after attaining the age and meeting the
service requirements, whether continuous or otherwise, of
subsection (c) of this section and shall, during the remainder of
his or her lifetime, continue to receive the salary of the office
if he or she meets the requirements of subsection (e).
(2) In a case in which a justice or judge who retires under
paragraph (1) does not meet the requirements of subsection (e), the
justice or judge shall continue to receive the salary that he or
she was receiving when he or she was last in active service or, if
a certification under subsection (e) was made for such justice or
judge, when such a certification was last in effect. The salary of
such justice or judge shall be adjusted under section 461 of this
title.
(c) The age and service requirements for retirement under this
section are as follows:
Attained age: Years of
service:
65 15
66 14
67 13
68 12
69 11
70 10
(d) The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, a successor to a justice or judge who
retires under this section.
(e)(1) In order to continue receiving the salary of the office
under subsection (b), a justice must be certified in each calendar
year by the Chief Justice, and a judge must be certified by the
chief judge of the circuit in which the judge sits, as having met
the requirements set forth in at least one of the following
subparagraphs:
(A) The justice or judge must have carried in the preceding
calendar year a caseload involving courtroom participation which
is equal to or greater than the amount of work involving
courtroom participation which an average judge in active service
would perform in three months. In the instance of a justice or
judge who has sat on both district courts and courts of appeals,
the caseload of appellate work and trial work shall be determined
separately and the results of those determinations added together
for purposes of this paragraph.
(B) The justice or judge performed in the preceding calendar
year substantial judicial duties not involving courtroom
participation under subparagraph (A), including settlement
efforts, motion decisions, writing opinions in cases that have
not been orally argued, and administrative duties for the court
to which the justice or judge is assigned. Any certification
under this subparagraph shall include a statement describing in
detail the nature and amount of work and certifying that the work
done is equal to or greater than the work described in this
subparagraph which an average judge in active service would
perform in three months.
(C) The justice or judge has, in the preceding calendar year,
performed work described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) in an
amount which, when calculated in accordance with such
subparagraphs, in the aggregate equals at least 3 months work.
(D) The justice or judge has, in the preceding calendar year,
performed substantial administrative duties directly related to
the operation of the courts, or has performed substantial duties
for a Federal or State governmental entity. A certification under
this subparagraph shall specify that the work done is equal to
the full-time work of an employee of the judicial branch. In any
year in which a justice or judge performs work described under
this subparagraph for less than the full year, one-half of such
work may be aggregated with work described under subparagraph
(A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph for the purpose of the justice
or judge satisfying the requirements of such subparagraph.
(E) The justice or judge was unable in the preceding calendar
year to perform judicial or administrative work to the extent
required by any of subparagraphs (A) through (D) because of a
temporary or permanent disability. A certification under this
subparagraph shall be made to a justice who certifies in writing
his or her disability to the Chief Justice, and to a judge who
certifies in writing his or her disability to the chief judge of
the circuit in which the judge sits. A justice or judge who is
certified under this subparagraph as having a permanent
disability shall be deemed to have met the requirements of this
subsection for each calendar year thereafter.
(2) Determinations of work performed under subparagraphs (A),
(B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1) shall be made pursuant to rules
promulgated by the Judicial Conference of the United States. In
promulgating such criteria, the Judicial Conference shall take into
account existing standards promulgated by the Conference for
allocation of space and staff for senior judges.
(3) If in any year a justice or judge who retires under
subsection (b) does not receive a certification under this
subsection (except as provided in paragraph (1)(E)), he or she may
thereafter receive a certification for that year by satisfying the
requirements of subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (1)
of this subsection in a subsequent year and attributing a
sufficient part of the work performed in such subsequent year to
the earlier year so that the work so attributed, when added to the
work performed during such earlier year, satisfies the requirements
for certification for that year. However, a justice or judge may
not receive credit for the same work for purposes of certification
for more than 1 year.
(4) In the case of any justice or judge who retires under
subsection (b) during a calendar year, there shall be included in
the determination under this subsection of work performed during
that calendar year all work performed by that justice or judge (as
described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1))
during that calendar year before such retirement.