A Supreme Court Justice serves for life. A president serves for a maximum of two terms. The president decides on a Supreme Court Justice. Although this may just seem like another power of the government, it has proven to cause many problems and create massive injustices within the justice system.
Every president has a political bias when they run for a political party. So, when a president decides on a justice who can sit on the Supreme Court for 30 plus years, they can potentially select a person based on their political biases.
It’s unfair that a president has a limit to how long they can push a political agenda, yet a Supreme Court Justice does not.
Something else that isn’t fair is that the person the president nominates for the Supreme Court doesn’t have to be a lawyer or judge. There are no age requirements like there are in all other parts of government, nor are there technically any qualifications required. Yes, the Senate has to confirm the Justice, however, suppose the Senate is also politically biased. It is hard for politicians not to be since they are ruling for political parties. In that case, many senators would vote in the Justice regardless of what the people in the country want or need.
Congress has the power to decide how to organize the Supreme Court. Nothing is written in the Constitution about how it should be organized, so there is no law stopping it from being arranged differently. The government decided on the system of the Supreme Court, yet the government itself is driven by politics, which is what the Supreme Court is not supposed to be.
This system creates a Supreme Court that is also politically driven since the politically motivated politicians choose who sits there and wields power.
Although the Supreme Court is supposed to be non-partisan, this hasn’t been seen recently, like in their decision to revoke Roe V. Wade. This issue became very politicized in the media—the situation was shown by one political party taking the side of keeping this ruling in place, and the other side wanting to get rid of the ruling. Although the Supreme Court was supposed to keep politics out of the court itself, it has become clear that the court has become politically biased.
Many of the justices put on the court by a Republican president (Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Amy Coney Barret, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch) voted to overturn Roe V. Wade, which aligns with what many Republicans were thinking in the media. However, the Justices put in by Democrat Presidents (Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Bryer, Elana Kagen, and John G Roberts, Jr.) voted to uphold this precedent. This shows a substantial political impact, as the political party under which they were appointed was the party they voted in favor of, despite the fact that they are supposed to be non-partisan. How can it be that way when clearly there is a political bias among the justices, as shown in this situation?
Having term limits for Supreme Court Justices would fix the issue of politically biased Justices. Similar to a president, they would only be able to push their ideas and beliefs for a short period instead of ruling for 30 plus years.
How can it be when a person with a clear political bias gets to push that agenda for 30 years when every other government official, such as US Senators, have a term that is a max of six years at a time?
Without the Justice System, there would be no one to interpret the Constitution and amend unjust laws. However, when there are only nine Justices, and they can be on the court for 30+ years, this doesn’t allow for much change or diversity in thought.
Think about how much has changed from 30 years ago to now. The societal norms are different, the way of thinking is different, the language is different, and so much more. Yet, the people with the power to decide on laws have held the same opinions, in some cases, for 30 years. This can lead to injustice since what was considered “just” 30 years ago may not be “just” now.
Yes, the Constitution never changes, and the Justices are supposed to be ruling on that document. However, how they rule on it and the choices they make should change over time, as the interpretation of the Constitution itself changes due to a changing society. If they interpreted the Constitution as they did in the 1800s, it would be even more unjust, as the society was completely different then.
For example, in 1896, the Plessy V. Fergeson case determined that “separate but equal facilities” were defined as equal. Later on however, in Brown V. Board of Education (1954), it was determined that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, as they were not actually equal. These rulings were opposite, as they took place at varying times during history, when the societal norms were different. The court should be a representation of the people, just like every other part of the government.
I believe having term limits is vital for the justice system to remain just. The Supreme Court is run by politics just as much as any part of the government, and so it should have the same restrictions as the other branches. It creates massive injustices when their beliefs are pushed for so many years, when every other politician has a limit to that power. No one should be able to push their beliefs in the government for that long.
Creating term limits would present new perspectives to the Supreme Court and create a more equitable court for all people, not just those in power.

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