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The Stunning Plan To Reverse The Supreme Court of Virginia: Lower The Retirement Age to 54, "Retire" The Justices In The Majority, Install Cronies To Uphold New Map
This is not constitutional hardball. It is murderball.
Josh Blackman | 5.10.2026 2:43 PM
Last week, the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated the new maps by a 4-3 vote. The Virginia Attorney General has signaled he will seek emergency relief with the United States Supreme Court based on the independent legislature theory. I agree with Rick Hasen that this argument will not work under Moore v. Harper. This case did not "arrogate" the power of the legislature. I am not an expert in this area of law, but the majority opinion seems persuasive, and at a minimum seems well within the bounds of a judicial decision.
Are there any other options remaining for Virginia democrats? I thought the answer was no, but apparently there is a theory floating around.
The New York Times describes one last-ditch effort:
One key to the plan would be having Democrats in Richmond lower the mandatory retirement age for state Supreme Court justices, an idea that began circulating among state lawmakers and members of Congress after a column proposing a version of the idea was published on Friday night in The Downballot, a progressive newsletter.
Ms. Spanberger would have to sign off on any legislation that lowered the judicial retirement age. She has not been briefed on the proposal, the people involved in the discussion or briefed on it said. Her spokeswoman, Libby Wiet, declined to comment.
The first step in the process, as discussed on the delegation's call, would be to invoke a January ruling by a circuit court judge in Tazewell County, Va., that said the 2026 constitutional amendment effort to redraw the maps was invalid because county officials did not post notice of it at courthouses and other public locations three months before a general election.
Democrats would aim to use that ruling to seek to invalidate the earlier constitutional amendment that created the state's independent redistricting commission by arguing that courthouses across the state did not post notice of it at the time. That would give the legislature the authority to enact a map of its choosing.
Ensuring the plan proceeds would involve the General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, lowering the mandatory retirement age for Virginia's Supreme Court from 75 to 54, the age of the youngest current justice, or less. Virginia judges are appointed by the General Assembly, where Democrats hold majorities in both chambers and could then fill vacancies on the court with sympathetic Democratic lawyers.
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https://reason.com/volokh/2026/05/10/the-stunning-plan-to-reverse-the-supreme-court-of-virginia-lower-the-retirement-age-to-54-retire-the-justices-in-the-majority-install-cronies-to-uphold-new-map/
