Sr. Status for Cal. Justices?

Two hot appellate topics these days are appellate delay in the California courts and judges taking senior status in the federal courts (to allow Biden to make appointments). So why not combine the two into a single story? Thus, today's DJ has State appeals justices should be allowed to semi retire, some say, addressing whether a form of senior status for California state justices might help address appellate delay.

• Senior status is a form of semi-retirement, enacted in the federal system in 1919 and limited to judges who meet age and experience requirements. Senior judges can continue working, but the president may appoint a new judge as well. Judges on senior status often take on a lighter workload or wind down their existing caseload without taking new cases.
• Appellate attorney Michael G. Colantuono, a former State Bar president, noted that California already has a system for allowing appellate justices to take on a role similar to senior status. He pointed to the 3rd District, where Justice M. Kathleen Butz announced in July she was stepping down. .... “When Justice Butz retired last summer, she didn’t disappear. The chief appointed her provisionally to finish out her cases.”

The article notes that CAAL has set up a task force to examine appellate delay and concludes with:

“We don’t have a particular timeline,” Colantuono said. “We are a bunch of wonky appellate lawyers, so it will probably be a deliberative process.”