Posted on 02/19/2016 1:39:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON-Ted Cruz has long proposed, as part of his presidential campaign,ending lifetime tenure for all Supreme Court justices.
Cruz proposed a constitutional amendment last June after the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act and legalize same-sex marriage nationwide,saying the court had become a source of "judicial tyranny."
Such ideas are likely to become a prominent part of the presidential campaign now that Justice Antonin Scalia has died,leaving a vacancy on the court during an election year.
"The court's hubris and thirst for power have reached unprecedented levels," wrote Cruz in the National Review[June 26, 2015], quoting Scalia multiple times. "And that calls for meaningful action,lest Congress be guilty of acquiescing to this assault on the rule of law."
Supreme Court justices currently serve for life after they are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate,in part to shield them from popular opinion and to allow the judiciary to act as a check on other branches of government.
Cruz would require justices to appear on the ballot for retention elections every eight years "beginning with the second national election after his or her appointment,"he wrote. If any justice failed to win both a majority of all voters and majorities in at least 25 states,the proposal would have stripped them of their seat and barred them from future Supreme Court terms.
The proposal was criticized from both sides of the aisle for its potential to politicize the bench,including within a Judiciary subcommittee chaired by Cruz.
"We cannot decry judicial activism and create a Constitution crisis every time that a big case comes out against us,"Delaware Sen. Christopher Coons, a ranking member of the subcommittee, told the Houston Chronicle. "The Supreme Court has been a vital arbiter of political interests precisely because it is insulated by the vagaries of politics and political interests."...
(Excerpt) Read more at trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com ...
I detest the idea of lifetime appointments, but also dislike the idea of justices being put up for elections, as it’d render them too susceptible to political influences. Perhaps one 8 year term would be better.
I personally think the country is getting more Liberal. Think of it - 10 (ten) years ago gay marriage was a taboo subject (and some years before that people like Ellen got shunned for coming out). Nowadays, comic book characters are portrayed as gay, and there are even adverts showing gay couples. That is just using one measure, but it shows how things have shifted. Goodness, if JFK rose and ran today he'd be too conservative for most GOP voters!
Anyway, to recap I get what the good Senator is proposing. I just think it is something that makes sense when one assumes that we will have a conservative administration in (near) perpetuity, and that the general electorate will remain mostly conservative. If that assumption is wrong, then it is a major mistake and could cost us severely (be it on gun rights, freedom of speech for those who don't agree with Liberal tenets, abortion, etc).
I'll say the same thing I said when almost 2 decades ago a Republican Administration proposed the Patriot Act. Simply put, 'don't assume Republicans will always be in power.'
"Hillary Clinton broke out in a vicious coughing fit about two-thirds of the way through a speech she gave in Harlem on Tuesday.
As she struggled to get it under control, first with water and then eventually a cough drop, Clinton riffed, "Too much to say," as the crowded auditorium at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture cheered her on.
Clinton, speaking to an incredibly supportive audience in her home state, suggested that Republican opposition to President Obama's plan to appoint a Supreme Court justice to take the late Antonin Scalia's seat is predicated on the inherent racism that has made Obama the enemy for the past seven years of his administration.
"That's in keeping with what we've heard all along, isn't it? Many Republicans talk in coded, racial language about takers and losers. They demonize President Obama and encourage the ugliest impulses of the paranoid fringe. This kind of hatred and bigotry has no place in our politics or our country."....
It also has problems. There is no perfect solution.
were it up to me the meaning of “The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour,” would mean that if a vote of both houses stated that a Justice due to a decision on the court was against the meaning of the Constitution and the president agreed (or was over ridden by 2/3) that member of the court would be removed from office.
No need to impeach, though the effect is similar. Just the peoples representative stating that your decision was bad behavior and your shall not make any more
It would not happen often but it would maybe keep all sides playing fair.
IF a dem congress tried to remove all of the conservatives they would KNOW that if it ever changed the pay back would bw swift and the other way as well.
".............Obama not only seeks to break the laws of the land, to make his own laws and then to demand that everyone abide by them, but he also wants a double standard in which these unique powers that he has claimed will be exclusive to his political movement. That goes beyond putting party ahead of country. It is the wholesale replacement of country with party and party with totalitarian ideology.
When he fought conservative judges based purely on ideology, Obama put party ahead of country. His judicial nominees were unqualified radicals who were manifestly hostile to the Constitution and put party ahead of country on the Supreme Court. Now Obama pleads with Republicans to put country ahead of party even while he schemes to once again find a way to put party ahead of country."......
I’m all for it.
They’ve certainly abused the trust the people have had in them. From Brennan to Thurgood Marshall to John Paul Stevens to Sandra Day O’Connor to Ruth Ginsburg to Breyer to Souter to Sotomayor to Kagan to Benedict Roberts, they have handed down Abominations like Roe V. Wade, Kelo vs. New London, and ObaMaoCare.
The list is long.
Obama is a hypocrite. For that matter, many Liberals are. Especially the wealthy ones.
“When he fought conservative judges based purely on ideology, Obama put party ahead of country. His judicial nominees were unqualified radicals who were manifestly hostile to the Constitution and put party ahead of country on the Supreme Court. Now Obama pleads with Republicans to put country ahead of party even while he schemes to once again find a way to put party ahead of country.”......”
Of course. Obama just wants what he wants, and he’ll plead whatever lies it takes to try and get it.
“It also has problems. There is no perfect solution.”
Agreed. I can’t conceive a perfect solution to any of this either.
“Perhaps one 8 year term would be better.”
Agree.
How about we start with term limits and mandatory retirement for Congress people.
“Perhaps one 8 year term would be better.
Agree.”
But a renewable term? If the judge could be confirmed a second time then he/she could serve a second term.
I would also suggest an age limit of 78-80.
By a simple majority, Congress can strip a subject from the jurisdiction of the Court. Which tells you how much the Republicans really care about abortion.
So the court can sway with every new administration?
No thank you.
Bingo. Two terms for senators, 3 terms for representatives. Then go home and live under the rules you create. And, oh, no retirement plan, no lifetime benefits package, no lifetime security detail, no nothing when you leave. It’s just you...living among the people you served.
That’s where the problem lies....with the old boys club.
Ted is trying to make up for his complete screw up in getting Roberts appointed to the Supreme Court and ensuring a victory for Obamacare. Ted likes that Canadian socialize medicine he grew up with.
How about one ten year term, followed by Senate re-confirmation (or not), allowing a second ten year term, followed by retirement?
Did you even read it?
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