Grinnell v. State

Part 2, article 78 of the New Hampshire Constitution provides that “[n]o person shall hold the office of judge of any court . . . after he has attained the age of seventy years.” N.H Const pt. 2, art. 78. When he reached age seventy on December 31, 1980, the plaintiff was required to vacate his office as Justice of the Derry District Court, where he had served since 1951. He filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the State pursuant to RSA 491:22, asserting that the age seventy provision violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment to the United…