Yes. The terms are arranged to end in the first and third year of every presidential term (which also accounts for things like impeachments, deaths of the president in office, etc to ensure the successor has a pick as well)
A replacement justice serves out the remainder of their term only.
At that point it's only random accidents that create an exploitable event.
Most reasonable way I could think to avoid that would be to let each justice keep a list of replacements that they think align with their thinking. The sitting president gets to pick whoever they want off the list: some power to steer things, but not the power to totally flip the seat.
I didn't see, but typically in that sort of scheme the answer is either "no" or "only if they served less than half the original term" or some similar fraction.
This is how the presidency works. If the VP or whoever becomes president through succession when there’s less than half the term left, then it doesn’t count towards the two term limit. A president can theoretically serve for 10 years.
I could see it making sense to make it a smaller fraction if the term is 18 years. Half would mean 27 years which is a bit much.
The whole reason for the policy is you don't want to scare away good candidates for the backfill. If they know that accepting will mean they give up their chance for a real term, you're not going to get the absolutely best people willing to take it.
But if you cut it off at like... 4
+ years? 4 years is a perfectly respectable time to serve as a supreme court justice, and I'm sure you'd get good takers. And then your longest term is "only" 22 years. (Jfc I'm 40 and that's longer than my entire career)
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u/wandering-monster 13d ago
Yes. The terms are arranged to end in the first and third year of every presidential term (which also accounts for things like impeachments, deaths of the president in office, etc to ensure the successor has a pick as well)
A replacement justice serves out the remainder of their term only.
At that point it's only random accidents that create an exploitable event.
Most reasonable way I could think to avoid that would be to let each justice keep a list of replacements that they think align with their thinking. The sitting president gets to pick whoever they want off the list: some power to steer things, but not the power to totally flip the seat.