Should We Amend the Constitution to Make Supreme Court Justice Elected Every Four Years?

[konradv]

They have more power than they actually have.

That makes no sense at all.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

rightwinger

They are answerable to We the People
Those who fail are not re-elected

That is not the case with partisan appointed Senators

Really?

What's the retention rate for incumbents?

 

[Leweman]

That makes no sense at all.

How so?

 

[rightwinger]

rightwinger

Really?

What's the retention rate for incumbents?

Doesnt matter
Many Senators and Congressmen fail to get re-elected

Those who get re-elected are satisfying their constituents

 

[Big Bend Texas]

Doesnt matter
Many Senators and Congressmen fail to get re-elected

Those who get re-elected are satisfying their constituents

Yes it matters because most people today vote a straight party ticket. The parties control the elections, not, "The People".

Only if the party turns against a candidate and mounts a party effort to remove them are many ever voted out of office once they are entrenched there. If they are replaced, it will usually be by someone of the same party barring a wave election in which the other side simply mows them flat.

If they each stood on their own merits we'd not have an over 90% retention rate, it wouldn't even be possible.

 

[BackAgain]

Worst idea in many hours. And that’s saying a lot.

 

[AZrailwhale]

I don’t think lifetime appointments serve the public good anymore. They worked when SCOTUS was far less politicized, but not now. That being said; I think Justices should serve an odd number of years to maintain a political separation from elected officials who all serve even number of years.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Politicizing the SCOTUS would be a terrible mistake, and there is a good reason why they have lifetime appointments and are not beholden to election cycles.

Now, should they have a required retirement age of 85? Yes.

FDR first politicized SCOTUS when he packed it by inducing a majority of the justices who opposed him to retire by giving them a golden parachute. That allowed him to appoint a majority that were beholden to him and supported his policies. Things limped along with a liberal-leaning, but reasonably fair court for decades until Robert Bork was proposed. That’s when the wheels came off. Since then, SCOTUS has been viewed as a club for use against the opposing party rather than a guarantee of freedom under the Constitution. I’m not sure the genie can be put back into the bottle to restore SCOTUS’ reputation as an impartial arbiter of ALL American’s rights.

 

[AZrailwhale]

Only Presidents that didn't do anything can be impeached. Trump for literally nothing and Clinton for blowjobs (Not that Clinton didn't do other things). Maybe there are some worthy ones in the past but I haven't investigated them.

Why are you trying to change history? Clinton was impeached for perjuring himself in a civil lawsuit trying to avoid fiscal responsibility for his sexual harassment of state employees. It had nothing to do with Lewinski.

 

[AZrailwhale]

And those reps were partisan

They made back room deals to appoint Senators

Today, Senators represent We the People

Senators were appointed by the Governors, not reps. They were not supposed to be political, but to represent the long-term interests of their states. Sort of an American version of the British House of Lords.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

Senators were appointed by the Governors, not reps. They were not supposed to be political, but to represent the long-term interests of their states. Sort of an American version of the British House of Lords.

Actually as per The Constitution they were elected by the Legislatures.

That would be a far better way to do things and we should go back to it.

 

[Markle]

With the inevitable appointment of the POS Ketanji Brown Jackson should we fix this problem. She obviously has no place being a Supreme Court Justice, let alone a Supreme Court Justice for life. None of them deserve it for life. They aren't non-partisan. They should be held accountable to Americans.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

Personally I can't see anything more dangerous for the future of the country than the prospect of wave elections constantly throwing the balance of the court to the extremes, even towards the extreme I would favor myself.

 

[Markle]

Actually as per The Constitution they were elected by the Legislatures.

That would be a far better way to do things and we should go back to it.

100% CORRECT!

As it stands today, no one represents the STATES in Washington. Talk about taxation without representation!

If the Senators were to answer to the state legislatures, we would never have near the number of mandates loaded on the states.

 

[Markle]

Doesnt matter
Many Senators and Congressmen fail to get re-elected

Those who get re-elected are satisfying their constituents

Without question, there should be term limits for both the House and Senate. In addition, the Senate should be returned to being chosen by the various state legislatures. They were intended to represent the STATES.

 

[WorldWatcher]

Nope. It was two to four year terms.

Not quite correct. Senatorial terms have always been 6 years with the exception of the first Congress where Senators were equally devided into 3 class. 1 Class for 6 years, 1 Class for 4 years, and 1 Class for 2 years. Instead of selecting 100% of Senators every 6-years. 1/3 of the Senate is selected every 2 years.

After the first Congress set the rotation and the first 3 classes stood for re-selection, since then Sentors terms have always been 6- years.

See Article I Section 3 of the Constitution.

WW

 

[rightwinger]

Without question, there should be term limits for both the House and Senate. In addition, the Senate should be returned to being chosen by the various state legislatures. They were intended to represent the STATES.

If my Representative is meeting my needs, I should be able to vote for him as many times as I want

Why should I have a less qualified Representative forced on me?

 

[rightwinger]

Senate should be returned to being chosen by the various state legislatures. They were intended to represent the STATES.

Wrong

They represent the PEOPLE of those States

 

[surada]

With the inevitable appointment of the POS Ketanji Brown Jackson should we fix this problem. She obviously has no place being a Supreme Court Justice, let alone a Supreme Court Justice for life. None of them deserve it for life. They aren't non-partisan. They should be held accountable to Americans.

No.

 

[CowboyTed]

If my Representative is meeting my needs, I should be able to vote for him as many times as I want

Why should I have a less qualified Representative forced on me?

Agreed...

What should be in place is multi seat districts with preference voting... This means it easier to challange the incumbents with out worrying about primaries..

Primaries and caucusing becomes less powerful which effectively mean power would taken further away from party machines and put more in the voters...

Because of this representatives are thinking more of the whole district rather than there own base..