Support for Supreme Court term limits is growing, we believe that they can be implemented via statute – i.e., that a constitutional amendment is not necessary.
Fix the Court’s Gabe Roth writes about that in USA TODAY:
“Remember, judicial life tenure is not handed down by decree from on high. It exists in the United States because a series of 18th century English monarchs, on this and the other side of the Atlantic, were axing jurists whose decisions they objected to. That’s it.
“Nearly every country whose Constitution was written in the 20th century — not to mention 49 of the 50 U.S. states — requires its top jurists to step down after a certain number of years or upon reaching a certain age. SCOTUS is an outlier.
“During the founding generation, justices had few responsibilities from the bench and limited jurisdiction, but until 1911, they were required to hear cases in far-flung locales across our burgeoning country — an exhausting and treacherous proposition before the advent of modern modes of transportation. Some members couldn’t leave the court fast enough.
“Serving on the Supreme Court today is akin to being a rock star, maybe even a monarch. You’re wined and dined and flown around the world. An entire segment of the population hangs on your every word, and entire segments of the population are impacted by your every keystroke. It’s a different job, and we’re a different country.”
Roth continues:
“Democrats [should] join with their conservative colleagues who have long embraced the concept of term limits and ensure that never again will a superannuated bench determine the direction of our country. [To do so,]Â Congress would pass a law whereby a new justice would be added to the court every other year. That way, each presidential term gets two, and vacancies would become more predictable. If the goal is a nine-justice court, that means future justices (9×2) would have terms of 18 years.”
Write your members of Congress now: end life tenure on the Supreme Court.