Comments on: Should SCOTUS Appointment Be For Life?

By: Callimachus

Callimachus — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 21:16:07 +0000

The same complaint comes up every time a powerful political faction finds the court obstructing the massive changes it wishes to make to American government. Lincoln made the same complaint. So did FDR. And the American people and even their politicians eventually remember the wisdom that Tony points out: “DonÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t remove fences before you know why they were put up.”

By: Tony Zbaraschuk

Tony Zbaraschuk — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 20:43:13 +0000

Having fairly long terms for the Supreme Court helps stabilize things — it’s impossible for a majority to quickly reverse the course of things. Changes then require a sustained long-term majority to achieve… which is not a bad thing, though I admit that there could be arguments over degree.

And the lifetime tenure of judges helps prevent them being bribed by offers of later jobs (which is a well-known problem with politicians.) Don’t remove fences before you know why they were put up.

By: Jonathon York

Jonathon York — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 15:35:38 +0000

Technically, Supreme Court justices maintain their offices “during good behavior.” When taking into consideration this peculiar language of the Constitution, and applying it to the question of whether federal judges should have limited tenure, the question itself then surrounds how one determines good behavior and bad behavior. On the full extent of the impeachment power, the Constitution is silent. One might reasonably conclude that the power to impeach, i.e. the power to call into question the execution of a particular office, whether executive or judicial , may be thus extended.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 15:34:01 +0000

Stop the ACLU??? Maybe they wrote an interesting article on term limits for Supreme Court Justices, but I looked through the rest of the cite and found it to be mostly ridiculous, calling the ACLU anti-American. Right. Protecting people’s rights and upholding the Bill of Rights in the Constitution is anti-American.

Anyway, I like the idea of term limits. Elections, however, would be inappropriate. The current method of installation is pretty political, but if judges were running for the SC, we would have a circus on our hands, and that is anathema to the impartiality our SC judges are supposed to have. Yet, I do wish there was another way to appoint them – maybe some kind of committee, whose members would be selected by . . . me! ; ) Well, and if I’m too busy maybe some other independent, non-partisan or bi-partisan group could do the job.