Judiciary Act Of 1789

The Supreme Court At Its Lowest Public Opinion Rating In Modern Times!

The US Supreme Court has been part of American government since the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

There have been 17 Chief Justices and a total of 116 Justices, including five who served both as Associate Justices, and as Chief Justice.

We have seen diversity on the Supreme Court in recent times, with two African American men and one African American woman; a Latina woman; six Jewish men and two Jewish women; six women overall; two Italian American Catholics; 15 Catholics overall; and 92 Protestants.

The present Court has four women, and five men, but the Court’s ideological tilt is way far to the right, and it has caused a loss of favorable public opinion toward the Court, with confidence in the fairness and objectivity of the Court at an all time low in public opinion, since polls began in the 1930s.

This is a crisis, and Chief Justice John Roberts, who so much wants a good reputation for the Court which has its name as Chief Justice, has clearly lost control of the agenda of fairness to the hard right nastiness and narrow mindedness of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, each being appointed by the first President Bush and the second President Bush.

The Report on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization “Leak” is a farce, as the members of the Court were not put under sworn testimony as Court staff was, and no result as to how the leak occurred has been concluded, which seems like a coverup!

This will reflect over time in rankings of the Bush Presidencies, as constitutional law has been distorted by the decision of the Court to reverse abortion rights of nearly 50 years standing, after its members did not indicate in their confirmation hearings that they wished to void the basic right of privacy that has become part of the history of America since the Warren Court of the 1950s and 1960s!

The Argument For 18 Year Terms For Supreme Court Justices In The Future To Insure Constitutional Stability

The controversy over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is a time to consider modifying the Judiciary Act of 1789, and end lifetime terms, and change to a maximum of 18 years on the Court for any future Supreme Court Justice.

It would insure in the future that we would have two Supreme Court appointments in any Presidential term, with the limit insuring turnover, rather than locking in a one sided Supreme Court, which can distort constitutional law and interpretation in a detrimental fashion.

Right now, in 2018, we have the danger of locking in a five member right wing Court that could last for 20-30 years, and the Court should, ideally, be a balanced Court, with some liberals, some moderates, and some conservatives, which normally was the way it was most of our history, but now seems a distant dream.

While there is an argument for longer terms, based on specific Justices being considered significant and admired by many, it still makes sense that we have a maximum of 18 years on the Court, and that way, the likelihood of having Justices at advanced ages, in the late 70s and early 80s, is much less likely to occur.

And one must realize that since most Justices come in modern times from the Circuit Courts, it means the average Justice would have a long judicial career, and if coming from an executive or legislative branch background, rare but has occurred in the past, that a Justice’s total career in public service will have been a long one.