Teachable Moment

the Teachable Moment

Should terms of the Supreme Court also be limited?

The U.S. Supreme Court decides some of the most important and difficult issues that our country faces. Nine justices decide who gets health care, who can vote, whom we can marry, who is allowed into the country, and who has won a presidential election. In our nation of over 330 million people, 9 people, who can stay in their positions for as long as they live, determine the law. There is a reason that no other democracy on earth gives unquestionable power to governmental officials for life: power corrupts and power for life corrupts even more.

Justices often serve past their prime waiting for a politically likeminded president to appoint their like-minded replacement. Then partisans on both sides seeking more political power wage vicious battles for the seat, causing very embarrassing confirmation hearings every time a justice retires or dies.

It is time to regularize the appointment of Supreme Court justices. This does not require amending the Constitution. Congress can pass a law whereby a new justice will be added to the court every other year, limiting their active service to 18 years each. Each president will then get to make two appointments per term, one in each first and third year. This will reduce partisan conflict and appropriately limit the influence of only 9 people. After their terms, each justice will have the option to serve on a different federal appeals court, and they will be able to return to the high court as a temporary alternate in the case of a sudden vacancy until the next appointment is due.