Electing supreme court judges for life is just plain stupid

[mopaul]

we should put term limits on it like everything else. i don't want john roberts to be selected and then live a long happy republican asshole life leaving us all fucked.

[tavalon]

1. But that's how they made that branch of the government independent

or thought they did.

It would have worked if it hadn't turned out to be so political.

[SoCalDem]

2. Here's a complete list with how long each served

Most actually did not serve all that long, and a few served many years..

What I would like to see id this:

No one younger than 60..assuming that a person by age 60 would have had time to amass a paper trail that could be adequately studied...and preferably would have been a judge already so there would be cases judged to look at

One term of 10 years, and at the end of 10 years..a re-confirmation for ONE additional term of 10...20 years is plenty for any judge

Nine justices...3 women.. 3 minority..3 men.(minority could be male/female/klingon


People live longer these days, and allowing very 'young' and virtually unknown (to the public) judges to get in at 50 or less, sets up a slant that can do harm for 2 generations






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_Justice

[mopaul]

3. if bush appointed him, he's an asshole

and the plan seems to be to keep him there even past his death in 52 years.

it seem to stupid me that if a president determined to be a maniac and a treasonous bastard, was impeached for war crimes and such, his official appointments and laws should be null and void.

in other words, if a supreme court judge turns out to be a psychopathic born again maniac, that's just too bad, you're stuck with him.

[cornermouse]

4. I think some job qualifications to be met would be quite reasonable.

I think they should have to serve a certain amount of time as a judge. That would create a paper trail and eliminate the pig in a poke system that Bush is racking up.

[bowens43]

5. Nope. Bad idea.

The reasoning behind life time appointments (they're not elected) is sound. Once appointed , they no longer serve at the mercy of the administration that appointed them. O'Conner and Souter are excellent examples.