ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Tomorrow marks the end of the two-year term of Missouri's Chief Justice Ronnie White. Did you think I meant someone else?

As for Chief Justice Rehnquist, we hope he's laughing off the premature talk of his demise, getting healthier, and contemplating retirement only if it suits him.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court President Aharon Barak is approaching that job’s mandatory retirement age of 70, which is leading to speculation that the limit will be raised. For those who may not be aware, President Franklin D. Roosevelt once made a proposal along similar lines:

What is my proposal? It is simply this: whenever a Judge or Justice of any Federal Court has reached the age of seventy and does not avail himself of the opportunity to retire on a pension, a new member shall be appointed by the President then in office, with the approval, as required by the Constitution, of the Senate of the United States.

This FDR speech is well worth reading for other reasons too, such as his criticism of the Supreme Court. Anyway, I hope that the Court will, in the future, play a smaller role in everyones' lives, and we mght then be less obsessed about retirements and confirmations. Let's hope for more judicial restraint, less overstretching of the Constitution, and more deference to the electorate.