Republican senator promises not to approve Hillary SC appointments

[zinfamous]

Best idea I've heard so far is that SCOTUS appointments remain lifetime, but only 9 are "active" justices at any given time. Each gets 18 years of active service so each POTUS nominates 2 each term. After 18 years they revert to "reserve" justice status and are used to fill in when needed when an active justice recuses themselves from a case, are sick, etc. Doing that would be both fair, wouldn't require a Constitutional Amendment to remove life tenure, and solves the "decrepit but refusing to step down because the POTUS is from the party you oppose" phenomena seen on the SCOTUS lately.

Yes, I like this too. I believe this model was briefly, and silently championed by GW Bush of all people, and came out of one of the typical conservative think tanks.

 

[zinfamous]

Don't we have enough campaigns as it is. Just more opportunities for the politicians to further politicize the SCOTUS and bloviate.

It actually removes the dire circumstance of SCOTUS appointments as an argument for presidential elections. Look at the summary Glenn posted above^

The idea is that every president (by term), gets an equal number of expected appointments as the next or previous president, and so once the system is in place, the turnover for the two open appointments each term ensures that it really becomes a null argument when the presidential influence on SCOTUS is completely diluted out. Only one-term presidents get "the shaft," but so what? The presidency, when it comes to constitutional issues, should be a faceless position, so the seats should be set to rotate with each presidential term (not like you can make a consistent appointment bracket, anyway, that compensates for some unknown future number and rotation of single and dual-term presidents)

 

[JSt0rm]

the point of the supreme court was to make a slower shift in one of the branches of government. This is by design. Lifetime appointments mean the judge can judge with a clear conscious knowing they will remain a judge no matter how they interpret something. This protection means they will serve the people in the way they intended. Slow changes in the court is a good thing. Unfortunately for the gop slow changes are about to come. Welcome to the future: a transvestite supreme court justice.

 

[jackstar7]

Haha yes exactly. They said the American people should have a say in who was nominated, but what they really meant was the American people should have a say so long as they chose a Republican.

It's sad that partisanship is so strong in this country because these people really, truly deserve to lose their jobs. They have consistently used impeding the basic functions of government as weapons against their political enemies, which is gross governmental malpractice.

It isn't just partisanship, because there are plenty of people that relish in a non-functioning government. Short-sightedness is all too common a problem though.

 

[Bitek]

So I guess the dems are OK to never confirm President Trump's SCOTUS picks of this email thing goes the wrong way for them?

 

[fskimospy]

So I guess the dems are OK to never confirm President Trump's SCOTUS picks of this email thing goes the wrong way for them?

Apparently the way it works is if you think someone is going to destroy the country (i.e.: is a member of the other party) then having a functional government is no longer a priority. The main priority is to render their administration incapable of governing.

You might say to yourself 'that's both childish and insane.' You would be correct.

 

[Jhhnn]

Best idea I've heard so far is

The best idea I've heard so far is to not try to re-invent the wheel. That's particularly true when such re-invention is like giving everybody a unicorn.

Dems did their duty when Repub Presidents nominated 12 of the last 16 Justices, turning away only Bork with bi-partisan support. Prior to Obama, it was 12 of 14. Mere fact.

Reducing it to pure partisanship as Repubs are doing disrespects the SCOTUS, the Constitution & the very institutions of govt. It's shameful, and even more so for people to support them in doing so.