Supreme Court Issues

1158 Words5 Pages

The United States Supreme Court is the highest judge on the most important issues that our country faces involving the constitution. These judgements are entrusted to nine men and women who, once appointed, can remain in their positions for as long as they live. There is no other Supreme Court in the world that permits their justices to serve for life (Morrison np). The high court officials of most other countries serve for fixed term lengths or are required to retire at a certain age (Morrison np). It appears that much has changed since the inception of the United States Supreme Court in 1787; and life tenure no longer seems to be the most appropriate approach. The United States Constitution states that justices “shall hold office during …show more content…

At one point in time, there was an eleven year stretch where no justices were appointed, and then two new justices were appointed at almost the same time (Morrison np). The voters should have an idea on how many vacancies a president will have instead of leaving that to pure chance. The justices themselves will also try to stay on until a president that is the member of their own party becomes president (Morrison np). Other people will also try to persuade a justice to retire or stay on the Court just because of who their replacement will be. This points out how necessary it is for us to transform this process because we are allowing a government official to choose the president that will appoint their …show more content…

When fully enacted, the 18-year term would allow each president to elect two Supreme Court Justices per term (Ringhand np). Vacancies would be predictable as they would happen every two years. If a sitting justice becomes ill or dies before their expected resignation, than he or she could temporarily be replaced by a lower court judge or one of the already retired Supreme Court judges. This system would increase the Supreme Courts democratic accountability. Studies have shown that throughout time, justices ideas “drift” away from what they had been at the time in which they were elected (Ringhand np). More frequent replacements would reduce this and their views would better reflect the ideas of the American people. A major problem is that life tenure can allow justices to become disconnected with the nation that they help lead. Staggered 18-year terms will reduce this problem