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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is turning down a request by Senate Republican leaders to tweak the language in a constitutional amendment voters will decide next month regarding judges' mandatory retirement age. The court issued a one-page opinion on Wednesday that denied the request to have the high court remove wording the plaintiffs consider unnecessary and confusing. The state constitution currently requires the state's more than 1,000 justices and judges to retire by the end of the year in which they turn 70. The amendment being voted on April 26 would change age 70 to age 75. The 5-to-0 court opinion says its decision doesn't necessarily preclude "any future legislative or executive action." The court's lone Republican, Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, didn't participate in the decision. He turns 70 in December, one of 20 state judges to reach that benchmark before the end of 2016.

Senate GOP loses bid to alter judge retirement age language