Why do justices serve for life

Despite this important institutional continuity, the Court has had periodic infusions of new Justices and new ideas throughout its existence; on average a new Justice joins the Court almost every two years. President Washington appointed the six original Justices and before the end of his second term had appointed four other Justices.

During his long tenure, President Franklin D. Toggle navigation. The Court as an Institution. Well, for one thing, the U. In practice, this means they have their seat for life, unless they are impeached and removed by Congress.

Only 15 federal judges in U. However, he was acquitted of all counts in the Senate, and went on to serve as a Supreme Court justice until his death in The Supreme Court acts as a check against the power of Congress and the president.

The lifetime appointment is designed to ensure that the justices are insulated from political pressure and that the court can serve as a truly independent branch of government. Some data , for instance, suggests that many justices actually drift leftward as they age. Because of increased lifespans, that often means more than three decades on the court , causing some to wonder if lifetime appointments are still appropriate.

The Inquirer turned to two experts to debate: Should Supreme Court justices have term limits? But rather than the aftermath being a singular national moment full of remembrances and reflections on a legendary legacy, the last week has been marked by a hyperpartisan discussion over the seat now vacant. A moment that should have brought us together as Americans in celebration of the values Ruth Bader Ginsburg helped elucidate during her decades of public service has instead become one that will deepen our divisions and corrode our already crumbling sense of shared purpose.

This was a choice — not a choice we actively made, but one passively made for us, as we have allowed our democratic system to continue to rely upon justices afforded life tenure. This is despite the fact that term limits for the Supreme Court have long been popular among the American people, with demonstrated strong support across the partisan spectrum for years.

When there are unexpected vacancies, senior justices would be called back into service in order to maintain a full bench. Our nomination and confirmation process is clearly broken. Leading Democrats and Republicans agree on that. However, this is just a downstream consequence of life tenure. The Supreme Court had no Scalia seat, no Ginsburg seat.

With lifetime appointments, justices are free to push their personal, ideological agendas for decades with almost no accountability. One compelling answer is year term limits , which would solve critical problems:.

A single, standard year term at the high court would restore limits to the most powerful, least accountable branch of American government. Appointments would become predictable exercises, not embarrassing partisan spectacles. Our proposal does not contravene this requirements as it would keep justices on the federal bench as senior justices after serving 18 years on SCOTUS.