After Scalia’s Death, Time for Term Limits on Supreme Court

Supreme Court

Scalia’s Passing Shows Issues with Supreme Court Politics

by Josh Guckert

After Justice Antonin Scalia tragically passed away on Saturday, the next question for political observers was inevitable: who would replace Scalia? This issue is largely because of the enormous power which a Supreme Court Justice holds. By sitting on the bench, these individuals are one of the nine most important judges in the country and perhaps the world. More importantly, only five of these judges need to agree on some issue of the law in order for it to become fact.

Now note that any President of the United States (with the advice and consent of the Senate) has the power to put in place one of those five necessary pieces for an extended period of time—perhaps as long as thirty years—and there is a serious issue of both accountability to the populace and the other government actors.

Of course, one of the earliest reasons for not having term limits was that the judiciary was supposed to be insulated from political influence, but needless to say, if this were ever the case, it is no longer so today. While Samuel Chase was impeached in 1804 on charges of allowing his partisan leanings to affect his court decisions, it is nearly impossible to imagine something similar occurring today.

Everything involved with the Supreme Court is inherently politicized, from the Senate confirmation (as has been seen in the last few days) to the very decisions that the justices make. While the Senate vote tallies have varied throughout history, the process has seemingly become particularly polarizing since the nomination of Robert Bork by Ronald Reagan in 1987.

Bork was rejected in a vote of 58-42 after Senator Ted Kennedy, forty-five minutes after Bork’s nomination, made a nationally-televised speech in which he stated that “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens.”

A similar situation took place upon the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas by George HW Bush in 1991. In an extremely high-profile confirmation hearing, Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, just narrowly being confirmed in a vote of 52-48.

What has led to such visceral reactions and heated exchanges? It’s because these men and women nominated have become so clearly political in their opinions (rather than merely following the law) that their appointments have wide-ranging consequences for Congresses and Presidents. When any elected official selects someone to fill a seat, he or she had best do what is in the best interest of his or her political party for the next generation.

Accordingly, Presidents have appointed justices who are not only seen as reliable, but young and able to hold onto their positions as long as possible. Consider that the last four justices appointed: John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, were respectively 50, 55, 55 and 50 years old, respectively, at the times of their appointments.

In short, there is one clear way to end the needless competition and political theater between the President (in his or her quest to find the youngest judicial nominees possible) and the Senate (in its desire to assassinate the characters of any opposing judges): there must be term limits on Supreme Court Justices.

It it difficult to tell how this will affect their jurisprudence, but perhaps it will allow them more leeway in following the Constitution without regard for party politics, rather than merely “filling the role” that they were nominated to “play.”

Nonetheless, term limits will create some restraints on a part of government that otherwise is without any accountability to Americans, and is so treasured that it leads to the kinds of unsavory discourse that has been seen over the last several days.

Related posts

5 comments

carteloil September 6, 2023 at 6:46 pm

… [Trackback]

[…] Information on that Topic: thelibertarianrepublic.com/its-time-for-term-limits-on-the-supreme-court/ […]

microdosing mushrooms legal in colorado September 19, 2023 at 11:21 am

… [Trackback]

[…] Read More here on that Topic: thelibertarianrepublic.com/its-time-for-term-limits-on-the-supreme-court/ […]

soothing music October 3, 2023 at 1:31 pm

… [Trackback]

[…] Info to that Topic: thelibertarianrepublic.com/its-time-for-term-limits-on-the-supreme-court/ […]

relaxing background music November 20, 2023 at 10:41 pm

relaxing background music

relaxing background music

smooth bossa nova February 12, 2024 at 11:27 am

smooth bossa nova

smooth bossa nova

Leave a Comment