It's time for term limits for Supreme Court justices
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement is a reminder that the US is unlike every other democracy in the world.
Article/Op-Ed in Vox
Franz Jantzen, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
June 27, 2018
Lee Drutman wrote for Vox about implementing term limits for Supreme Court justices.
Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement. In the weeks and months to come, the battle over appointing a new Supreme Court justice will be very, very nasty. Whoever replaces him could serve on the Court for 40 years. That’s too long. It makes the stakes too high.
Unlike every other democracy in the world, the US has lifetime appointments for the Supreme Court. This means that whoever gets appointed could serve for 30 or more years — a tenure that is becoming more and more the norm.
So here’s a simple idea to dial down some of the destructive warfare of the Supreme Court confirmation process: term limits for Supreme Court justices.