An opposing view was exhibited by Brutus in Anti-Federalist 78-79:
"There is no power above them, to control any of their decisions. There is no authority that can remove them, and they cannot be controlled by the laws of the legislature. In short, they are independent of the people, of the legislature, and of every power under heaven. Men placed in this situation will generally soon feel themselves independent of heaven itself."
The question then is, should judges serve for life? Is it important for judges to be above the political wrangling that takes place in the other branches of government? Or should they be held accountable on a periodic basis? Should there be a certain term of office for judges? Or would this subject the judiciary to too much political pressure?
I agree that Supreme court justices should be appointed for life. They are a special body that should be protected from public and political pressures so they are free to make decisions not influenced by these outside pressures. However, in the case of federal judges, I would like to see 15 to 20 year terms. This diminishes the impact of each appointed judge and could influence those to be appointed in the future. For example, a President, knowing judges serve a lifetime tenure, may choose to appoint someone young that could continue his legacy far into the future instead of an older person who perhaps might be more qualified but would not be able to serve as long. Also, I do not believe that anyone, besides those in the Supreme Court, should be able to escape reelection or at least some type of review. These judges should still have long terms to escape certain outside pressures, but even so, i believe judges are still influenced by lobbyists and special interest groups. If there were some type of review process for these judges, these problems could be recognized and handled accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI think they should serve a life term as well. I agree that if they behave themselves and don't become power hungry, they should be able to do their job until they can't anymore. I'm sure they take pride in their work and by worrying about possibly losing their positions due to newcomers they might not be able to do their jobs as effectively.
ReplyDeleteI think that being appointed to life is not such a great idea. As we learned in class last night, these judges are no spring chickens. I think that the judges should have long terms, but I think there should be a cap on the age, such as 80 or so. As one reaches certain ages, they tend to lose thought process. I agree we need someone with knowledge of the system and such, but age doesn't necessarily guarantee wisdom as some of that wisdom could be lost with age. Not only wisdom, but also sight and hearing. What if the judges think they hear or see differently than what is truly being said or shown?? Or perhaps there should be a yearly physical or something to show that they are still capable of making a sound decision.
ReplyDeleteI don't think letting a 90+ year old man sit on the judicial bench is the greatest of all ideas. We should limit there terms and age. Giving someone that much power for the rest of their lives, isn't the best thing we could do. That is why the most impeachments have been those of federal judges. It is a very powerful position to hold, and there are very few people out there who over time would not abuse their authority.
ReplyDeleteI believe we shouldn't allow someone to have a life term. If someone has that type of job security it can be easy to become lazy or not perform there job fully correctly, but enough to make sure they do not lose it. Every ten years sounds good to me.
ReplyDeleteI believe that they should be voted on at least every ten years. I think people get too set in their ways and that may not always be in the good for the country.
ReplyDeleteI believe judges should be allowed to sit for life. We have laws set in place to protect us in case they get too old, or if they do something illegal we can impeach them. The longer a judge sits, the more experience he or she has which I believe is beneficial.
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