April 5, 2010

Storm Warning

How very nice of Justice Stevens to give some advanced warning that he's going to retire. Most of the time, the Justices just announce the retirement or die suddenly. Now everyone has the chance to gear up in advance.

Of course, Stevens is about to turn 90, so this isn't an unexpected move. Speaking as someone who has had elderly grandparents, I can't believe that someone is able to grapple with the toughest issues of law at that age.

Should we really makes these lifetime appointments? The whole lifetime?

2 comments:

Tyler said...

One 18 year term.

Laura said...

I'm with Tyler, here. (Nobody faint, okay?) 18 year terms for Supreme Court justices. Maybe lifetime appointments made sense 200 years ago when people weren't living into their 90's, but it's just too long, now. I mean...Roberts is all of 55 now, and assuming he's around as long as Stevens we're talking another 40 years. That's the sort of thing that leads to stagnation, something I find completely unacceptable...