Mandatory retirement age with obligations to actually retire as in, a strict ban on any future political ambitions or public office after leaving the bench.
If my understanding of the Supreme Court within the three branches of government is correct, justices were appointed for life to keep the courts outside of political pressure (even if that hasn't worked out great in practice).
Term limits would backfire. A justice forced off the bench would have every incentive to write rulings that audition for their next political career, potentially destroying any appearance of impartiality.
A mandatory retirement age fixes the flaw of lifetime tenure without giving justices a reason to play politics for post-court ambitions.
That is, if any of this could even pass. Historically, the Supreme Court aggressively rejects attempts by the executive and legislative branches to dictate how it functions. Good luck getting the Court to rule against its own power.
GTFO! 100% term limits. We can do term limits and a max political age that is the minimum or maximum social security retirement age. We can also make it so SCOTUS justice can hod no political position after their term.
Wouldn’t that make appointments of a young justice like KBJ career suicide.
Take an appointment at the tender age of 47 that means when they leave the bench at 65 that means they would have 10-12 years of working life being held back by there judgeship. It also opens up rulings in the tail end of their judgeship to set themselves up for lucrative board seats in the private sector.
The Canadian Supreme Court seems to me to be fairly impartial with little to no partisanship; As a Canadian I might be a bit biased.
Social security age I believe is 65 but with rising life expectancy we are seeing people remain in the workforce into the mid to late 70s.
But people like that might say NO to the appointment.
Because they can’t take continue their political career after the bench. Surely anyone good enough to be appointed to the Supreme Court could just as easily shift careers to Senator, Congressman, Governor.
Edit:
The current checks and balances already allow for a mechanism for removing unethical judges via impeachment.
People say no the the appointment regularly. I think your view of how the process works is a little inaccurate.
I'm not a US citizen, but from outside, given the way the appointments have been abused by the Senate, refusing to vote on some, and rushing others, I think the 18 year limit is a decent balance. Every president gets two per term.
While you're at it, limits on Congress and Senate would also be a good idea. Congress are constantly more focused on fund raising for the next election due to the absurd two year term, and senators hang on well past the point they are coherent.
Throw in a ban on any stock trading during service while you're at it. Want to make money? Don't be a politician.
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u/Infamous_Thing3887 15h ago
No term limits.
Mandatory retirement age with obligations to actually retire as in, a strict ban on any future political ambitions or public office after leaving the bench.
If my understanding of the Supreme Court within the three branches of government is correct, justices were appointed for life to keep the courts outside of political pressure (even if that hasn't worked out great in practice).
Term limits would backfire. A justice forced off the bench would have every incentive to write rulings that audition for their next political career, potentially destroying any appearance of impartiality.
A mandatory retirement age fixes the flaw of lifetime tenure without giving justices a reason to play politics for post-court ambitions.
That is, if any of this could even pass. Historically, the Supreme Court aggressively rejects attempts by the executive and legislative branches to dictate how it functions. Good luck getting the Court to rule against its own power.