Clause 2 of the United States Constitution outlines the process whereby the President of the United States is entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the Supreme Court Justices: "The President...shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States." Because unlike other public servants, Supreme Court Justices serve for life, their appointments need to be considered carefully. The general public cannot be trusted to make decisions this important with proper care and consideration. The most recent election of Donald Trump further proves this to be the case. Even though presidential appointments are problematic in their own way, they still remain the best solution to protect the system of checks and balances.The recent fiasco with the opposition government stymying the President's Supreme Court nominees shows that the procedures whereby the Justices are approved and confirmed needs to be revised. That does not mean the decision should revert to the people. The election of state judges shows exactly how problematic public elections for members of the judiciary can be. As Zeder (2012) points out, 90% of state judges must run for office. Those elections are costly and often sullied by extraneous political issues. With few exceptions, the general public has no idea what a good, professional, experienced...
A judge's peers, however, do know. There is a "good-faith logic" in holding public elections for county and state judges, which does provide a balance of powers given that the Supreme Court is the ultimate court of appeals (Zeder, 2012). If the Supreme Court were publically elected too, that would mean that no member of the judiciary would remain stalwart and independent from the fray and whims of fluctuating public opinion.Supreme Court Justices Chief Justice John G. Roberts Biography John Glover Roberts Jr. was born on January 27, 1955, in Buffalo, New York. Roberts grew up with three sisters, Kathy, Peggy, and Barbara and his mother Rosemary. His father, John Sr., a plant manager at Bethlehem Steel, moved the family to Long Beach, Indiana, when Roberts was in fourth grade. After grade school Roberts attended La Lumiere School, a Roman Catholic boarding school
Political Science Supreme Court Justices There are currently nine Supreme Court Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States. Clearly, the Supreme Court shows a definite conservative tendency, with seven of the nine justices appointed by Republican Presidents, and only two appointed by Democratic Presidents ("Justices"). The Chief Justice of the Court is William H. Rehnquist, who has served on the Court since 1972, and has been the Chief Justice since 1986.
Justice Antonin Scalia's philosophy and contributions to the US Supreme Court, and the effect of his demise on the Court, particularly on Amendments IV, V, VI and VIII. Philosophy and Impact of the Death of Scalia Owing to Justice Scalia's disruptive nature, a number of impolite social media posts, op-eds and tweets are expected from parties who were usually not in agreement with his philosophy. Despite the presence of other "conservative" Justices,
Supreme Court Justices as regards their lifetime appointment status. Life tenure by Supreme Court judges has numerous significances as well as drawbacks. However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and, as such it should be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the federal judges should receive significant pay as result of the importance of their job. This article includes the advantages and disadvantages of being a federal judge, as well as their tenure and
counter-majoritarian difficulty is what some refer to as the most well-known issue in constitutional theory. A phrase created by Alexander Bickel, the Yale Professor introduced it in his book titled The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics. Although it is not certain what Bickel meant by making that phrase, it grew to have a life of its own. Essentially now it means when unelected
Hamilton Assertion Proves Incorrect There are parts of Hamilton's statement regarding the nature of the Supreme Court and its influence that are largely inaccurate. There are myriad examples which prove the Supreme court has both force as well as will. Moreover, its influence certainly pertains to matters that are both related to finances as well as government or military solidarity (what Hamilton referred to as "the sword"). When one considers both
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now