Limit Time to Approve Supreme Court Justices

Thomas J. Meeks is right. The time to enact term limits for the U.S. Supreme Court is now. His proposal deserves serious consideration. It should also be built upon. In a July 9 Letter to the Editor, Meeks called for a Supreme Court of nine justices. He also prescribed an 18-year-term limit beginning and ending in odd-numbered years.

The benefits of this proposal are numerous. First, it regularizes the size of the Supreme Court. Second, it ensures that every president will receive at least two nominations to the court. As a result, Supreme Court nomination battles will be far less polarized than they are today. Our country also will benefit from incread
turnover on the court.

That said, a resolution mechanism should be added to Meeks’ proposal. That might look something like this:

If 180 days have passed since a vacancy occurred and that vacancy has not been filled, randomly select and confirm a new justice from any lower federal court. If that selection refuses to serve, repeat the process until a selection is found who does agree to serve. Finally, if a vacancy occurs prior to a term’s scheduled end, a replacement justice will only serve until the term’s scheduled end. At this time, the replacement justice will be ineligible to serve and a new justice will be chosen.

By implementing a resolution mechanism, we force politicians to either come to an agreement or take their chances. Politicians, who are risk-averse creatures, will be incentivized to work together. I think we’d all be a lot happier, too. Our republic shouldn’t be thrown into a constitutional crisis every time an octogenarian dies. Allowing the current situation to persist is reckless and irresponsible. We can do better.

Originally printed as a letter to the editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Click here to view.