U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, in a memo to Fred F. Fielding, White House Counsel, dated dated October 3, 1983, wrote:
Setting a term of, say, 15 years would ensure that federal judges would not lose all touch with reality through decades of ivory tower existence. It would also provide a more regular and greater degree of turnover among the judges.
Take a position. Do you agree or disagree that federal judges should serve lifetime terms?
First, title your post either “Lifetime Appointments Are Acceptable” or “Term Limits Should Be Set.”
Then, using the information gained in this module and the resources noted above, make your case. What are the pros and cons of lifetime appointments? Of term limits? Be sure to build your case with factual resources.
In your response to your peers, consider how well they justified their position, making use of available resources. Consider the following questions in your response posts:
Did they support their position convincingly with appropriate resources?
Which of their points make the most sense to you, even if you made a case for the opposing viewpoint?
References
Hemmens, C., Brody, D. C., & Spohn, C. (2020). Criminal courts: A contemporary perspective, 4e. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.White House Memorandum. (1983, October 3). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1110&context=historical
eview the Discussion Rubric document.
Your active participation in the discussions is essential to your overall success this term. Discussion questions will help you make meaningful connections between the course content and the larger concepts of the course. These discussions give you a chance to express your own thoughts, ask questions, and gain insight from your peers and instructor.
Directions
For each discussion, you must create one initial post and follow up with at least two response posts.
For your initial post, do the following:
Write a post of 1 to 2 paragraphs.
Consider content from other parts of the course where appropriate. Use proper citation methods for your discipline when referencing scholarly or popular sources.
Sample Solution
I disagree with the idea of federal judges serving lifetime terms. While I understand that being a judge is a prestigious and important position, I believe it is not ideal for someone to remain in that role indefinitely as they may become stagnant and out of touch with current social or legal issues over time. Setting time limits such as fifteen years can help ensure that turnover takes place regularly which can provide new perspectives and ideas on how to approach various cases.
In addition, having fixed term lengths would create an incentive for those appointed to serve diligently during their tenure. Knowing that their service has an expiration date could provide a greater sense of urgency to perform well in order to make sure their accomplishments are memorable and lasting (Roper & Jacoby, 2019). This would also benefit the overall judicial system by providing more consistent review/evaluation periods where assessments could be made regarding performance levels across all branches.
Finally, this type of structure would allow for more diverse representation within the ranks of judges. Currently we often see many roles filled by individuals from similar backgrounds or who possess identical ideologies which means certain communities may not be getting equal access when it comes to understanding or interpreting laws (Coughlin & Tannebaum‐Bruner, 2014). By introducing term limits there could potentially be room made available for other voices since no one person would own a particular seat forever.
