Just what we need to insure justice for all is a court where lasting the longest is the main focus of the Justices. How old can you go before you have gone on way too long? Why is there no age limit on the Justices? Are they immune to the laws of nature and science? Or is it so easy to function on the Court even in the darkness of senility or the desperation of terminal illness that nobody notices. No institution in this nation has more urgent need for reform than the Supreme Court. If you think age increases wisdom, insight and intelligence; go visit the nearest nursing home and see how the elderly residents are doing. Most of them are still too young to be contemporaries of the current Court. Really, the 'till death do us part' part of being a Supreme Court Justice must end with a common sense age limit. Letting the judges serve while dying or until death does no justice to any American. Hello! Has anyone heard of retirement age?
- 1
- 2
Watching For Supreme Surprises
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
Neither Ginsburg nor Stevens shows any indication of slowing down on the bench, either. I think we may want to take them at their word when they tell us they're not planning to go anyplace unless the celestial Court of Highest Appeals issues a differing opinion.
The leaves Washington insiders to speculate and whisper about Souter, and he's not saying much of anything. He may not be enjoying his time in Washington, but, like his colleagues, he still shows signs of enjoying himself tremendously on the bench.
It's worth remembering here that all the likely suspects for retirement come from the court's reliably liberal wing. Which means President Obama will replace any of them with a like-minded reliably liberal centrist. That might incline any of them to leave sooner rather than later, but not necessarily this June. In light of the current economic crisis and what is often characterized as the failure of capitalism, the composition of the federal judiciary is perhaps the last winning political issue for conservatives. That makes the chances of a quiet retirement and a quiet replacement negligible. Whoever it is that slips away from the court will guarantee at least a summer of national turmoil. No wonder they don't tell us their plans in advance.
Lithwick is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor and a senior writer for Slate. A version of this column also appears on Slate.com.
© 2009
- 1
- 2
Discuss