Lifetime appt. is antiquated

[wilt the stilt]

Rehnquist and Scalia both died in office. It is time to change yhis antiquated term. Perhaps 20 years. 75 is just too old.

[Duckhunter935]

1. RBG would disagree

[wilt the stilt]

3. Of course she would

So what. I thought Scalia was starting to have dementia. He had a ruling recently that completely reversed a prior ruling of his. Rehnquist was a mess.

[Hortensis]

22. 75 too old? For what else is discrimination

against qualified individuals okay? Okay to bar fat chicks from trendy nightclubs because slim's the style? My guess is you believe yourself against discrimination, so how come it's okay on the basis of the number in an "age" field?

We need to do away with lifetime appointments because these very long tenures, where supra-powerful justices live in a privileged, rarified bubble separate from and independent of changing society for decades, are bad for the country.

[tritsofme]

2. Read an interesting piece today, called for staggered 18 yr terms, meaning 2 vacancies over a 4 year

term.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/scalia-how-to-fix-supreme-court-vacancy-reform-213637

At first blush, I like this idea quite a bit.

[6chars]

4. data

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justices_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3000028/figure/f1-dem-47-0269/

[dumbcat]

5. Go for it

All it takes is a constitutional amendment.

[Hoppy]

6. N.J. lost a couple of good S.C. justices because of term limits. Pigface nominated replacements.

[davidn3600]

7. Originally Alexander Hamiliton wanted Senators and the President to be for life too...

Good thing he didnt get his way on that!

That man was smart when it came to economics...but he had some strange political ideas.

[clarice]

8. Yup...always thought there should be term limits on SCJs. nt

[MohRokTah]

9. Well, you could get 67 Senators and 290 members of the House to pass an amendment

Then all it takes is 38 state legislatures to agree with that.

[Big Blue Marble]

10. Sounds extremely ageist to me. N/T

[wilt the stilt]

14. i will be 65 this year

and I think there are 2 reasons. One as we get older we basically suck and no one should be in power that long.

[Big Blue Marble]

16. It is sad that you feel that way about your age.

I am older than you and would disagree. I am in better shape today than I was
at your age. As to how long someone should be able to function, it is highly individual.

Many people in their eighties and nineties are still functioning. Bernie Sanders is 74 and
would be 79 after four years in office. HRC will soon be 69 and going strong. Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg is 82 and fully functioning.

[wilt the stilt]

18. so let me be honest about this

I am in high tech and software. i am known for my razor sharp memory among very young and very smart people. I meet some of the most high powered attorneys in the country. Some of the attorneys i work with were in the Obama administration and the Bush administration. Some of them have litigated some of the most famous cases in the country including some that have had very large spreads in rolling stone.
So have I dropped off hardly. that being said I think the decline is more apparent in your seventies and I for one absolutely think Bernie is too old to be President.

One of my best friends is very conservative and is 43. He marvels at memory and we both think Bernie is flat out too old. I think in reality he is a crotchety old man. His temperament is very testy. I have heard he best age for a president is 55-60. Not too old and still somewhat with it. lot's of energy and the ability to be flexible. i watch bernie and I personally think he is inflexible.

On the other hand rubio is a total empty suit. i thought so the first time I saw him. Cruz is smart but a total dick. Hilary is still with it and for some unknown reason women some to keep it together longer. look at Reagan and how fast he dropped off. I remember saying to my wife when he left office"i didn't think he could speak in complete sentences anymore.

One of my good friends retired recently. He was much smarter than me. I saw in one year that there was a significant drop off.

[former9thward]

41. There are always exceptions.

But we don't make rules based on exceptions. Both Sanders and Clinton have obvious health problems which you may wish to ignore.

Justice William O. Douglas, a great Justice, in his later opinions wrote that trees have a right to sue the U.S. Once that happened the court stopped hearing cases where his opinion might make a difference. They held over cases hoping he would retire or die. He retired and security had to stop him from entering the building because he thought he still was a Justice.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. The last person who tried to change the rules for the Supreme Court was FDR, I think

and it is widely regarded as one of the bigger blunders in an otherwise exemplary record of accomplishment.

If he couldn't do it, it's not going to happen.

[bullwinkle428]

12. I would imagine this is getting pushed pretty hard on, let's just say,

"non-liberal sites" right now, given that the right wing is about to lose the SC majority they've maintained for nearly a generation.

[dumbcat]

27. While I have the greatest respect for your imagination

do you perhaps have any real links?

[onenote]

13. Is 75 too old to be President?

Much more demanding job. Much more responsibility. Are you saying that Bernie should be disqualified from running (he'll be 75 on election day) and that Hillary should only be allowed to serve a single term if she's elected (she would turn 75 during her second term)?

And which is it? 20 years service (no matter what your age) or age 75?

Should Thurgood Marshall have been forced to step down after only 16 years on the Court (that's when he turned 75)?

[wilt the stilt]

20. yes I think Bernie is too old

I personally think he comes across as a crotchety old man. I think he says what people want to hear and that is why he is popular. Free college is not possible. each state runs their own system. how would you solve the problem of one state where you have to pay 20,000 for tuition vs a state where you pay 10,000 for tuition. It is plain not feasible to be implemented and what problem does it really solve.

Our wage stagflation has more to do with the fact we don't have a manufacturing base. If he wanted to really help he would subsidize our manufacturing companies so we keep high paying jobs. free college sounds good it really solves nothing.

[demtenjeep]

15. no its not

its supposed to take the bias out of the court

[backscatter712]

17. Part of the purpose is to insulate the justices from electoral corruption.

Look at Texas, which was one of the states that brought about elected judges, and retention elections.

Over there, it's "You dance with the one that brung you" - they take political contributions, they make promises, the whole process that leads to corruption. And it shows in the rulings from the benches there.

We've already got too damned much corruption on the bench in courtrooms, and thankfully, one of the worst offenders is no longer with us.

Maybe the 18 year term isn't a bad idea - the term length is long enough that justices still get pretty insulated from the politics and potential for corruption.

[wilt the stilt]

19. So did the lifetime appointment

work to keep scalia from being partisan. In many ways it made it worse.

[LanternWaste]

21. A premise, yet no evidence to support it. We often call those "bumper stickers."

A premise, yet no evidence to support it. We often call those "bumper stickers," and accord them all the consideration they indeed, warrant.

[Cobalt Violet]

23. 75 is not too old.

[wilt the stilt]

24. I happen to think it is

we all are entitled to our own opinion. It typically is the beginning of failing health. Look around you and the average 79 year old is really slowing down. Bernie would be 79 at the end of his first term. If he was in perfect health and had an extensive regimen of physical fitness then maybe.

I just think it is asking too much to expect someone to perform the duties of the presidency at 79.

[Cobalt Violet]

29. Well you out yourself as an ageist then.

When I look around I see 70 somethings in varying states of health. It's pretty much the same thing for other age groups as well. Oh and you do realize FDR was in a wheelchair don't you? By your logic he must have been a terrible president since he didn't have an "extensive regimen for physical fitness".

[wilt the stilt]

30. FDR was 61 when he died

and that is pretty young. I'm 64 going on 65 and I work in high tech with many young people. High tech is a very smart vertical. I work with some of the best known attorney's in the U.S. Some of them are pretty famous including one who had one of the most famous cases written up in Rolling Stone. I am known among my fellow workers as have the best memory and everyone marvels at it.

I am still razor sharp. That being said I think 75 is just too old for the presidency. The Presidency is no "regular job". It is not being a senator. i've heard the proper age is 55-60. You are still young with great energy.
We

[onenote]

34. which is why you are free to vote against someone if you think he or she is "too" old for the job

But if others disagree, why shouldn't they have the opportunity to vote for someone who you think is too old but they don't?

[treestar]

25. not sure

the Founders did it for a reason. They aren't beholden to anyone to influence them and can follow the law.

[ecstatic]

26. So change the rules now that the court might go left?

Is that the plan? No wonder the right wing continues to dominate in a centrist/ left leaning country. We make it so easy for them.

[Agschmid]

28. I don't have a problem with them having life terms.

[struggle4progress]

31. It's not life-time tenure but tenure during "good behavior"

The current system provides a relatively stable legal environment, in which the composition of the court doesn't swing wildly back and forth with every election

[KamaAina]

32. "Rehnquist and Scalia both died in office."

So did FDR, JFK and others. Your point?

[wilt the stilt]

36. I personally wouldn't use an assasination

to make a point. kind of silly.

[KamaAina]

37. FDR was not assassinated.

Nor was Zachary Taylor or Warren Harding (although there are some CTs that Harding may have been poisoned ).

[wilt the stilt]

39. JFK was

FDR was only 61 and was in very bad health the last couple of years. That being said 75 is really stretching it in my opinion.

[MineralMan]

33. You could be right. However changing it will require a

Constitutional amendment. That seems beyond unlikely. I'd rather focus on electing Presidents who will appoint progressives to be SCOTUS justices in every presidential election. That's a lot more possible.

[Blue_Tires]

35. Yeah, because the USSC isn't politicized enough already....

[WillowTree]

38. Not enough people understand or care about it.......

.......to get a Constitutional amendment passed. Not going to happen.

[SoCalDem]

40. In a country the size of ours,

our SCOTUS should be 21.... It would still take 9 to actually render a verdict..

To take a case, they would need 11...

BUT

once a case was taken, the 9 would be drawn at random by a computer..

This one thing might prevent the highly political (and deliberate) "cases" that keep cropping up, from ever being decided by SCOTUS..

Why take a case like Hobby Lobby/abortion/affirmative action/voting rights, if there is doubt that YOU and your conservative pals may not end up actually deciding the case?

Also, I think there should be a minimum age of 60 to even be considered. This would pretty much assure that family obligations (young kids, etc) would be pretty much settled by then...and make the terms 15 years.. If someone wants another term, they could ask to be reconfirmed , and their record would be considered, as well as their health.

[TeamPooka]

42. The point is to avoid political pressure from re-election or appoinment. I'm for it.

The point is to give these nine people the total job freedom to follow their conscience and the law.
Everyone else has to grovel. They don't.