Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, one of the most prolific and influential legal thinkers of the past half-century, is retiring from the Seventh Circuit over the weekend, the court announced Friday. Posner, 78, is stepping down after more than three decades on the 7th U.S. Richard Posner, a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago, who was a prolific writer of court opinions and books, is set to retire, according to a published report. Posner was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and was known as a conservative, although in recent years he became less so. Posner said in a statement Friday that he has written more than 3,300 opinions during his career and is “proud to have promoted a pragmatic approach to judging.”

Posner has been an outspoken critic of the current state of the U.S. Supreme Court, calling it “highly politicized.”

Posner is also on the faculty of University of Chicago Law School. Posner, 78, told the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in a statement that he would retire on Saturday: “I look forward to continuing to teach and publish, with a particular focus on social justice reform.”

Posner is a legal giant, who had a huge impact on the American judicial system, and recently wrote in an article that there should be mandatory retirement for federal judges, at “probably 80.”

More details to come.
United States federal judge Richard Posner has announced his retirement after three decades of service on the bench of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Justice Posner has written more than 3,300 opinions from the bench.