This week, we are (hopefully) at the end of the process of selecting a Supreme Court Justice of the United States.
There have been many arguments for and against the current nominee, and it has been painful for everyone involved in the process.
I hasten to add that I am not in either the Democrat or Republican camp. Also, I am not in either the male gender camp or the female gender camp.
What I do have to say is this. Our system of accepting a Supreme Court Justice nominee is fragile – if not broken. There have been many suggestions made to correct this. One has been to put term limits on Supreme Court Justices. That suggestion is a band-aid and not a solution. The solution is to put term limits on Senators, if not also on Representatives.
Some scholars have suggested that term limits do not work. WHY? Because each new congressperson would take his or her seat with little knowledge of how the system works. Our system is broken! Possibly it would be a good thing if congress had to find a new way to do things. The old system requires our congresspeople to spend much time gathering dollars for their next election.
However, the scholars add that new congress people, because of their inexperience, will be dependent upon lobbyists to inform them of the “correct” decisions to make. Is this any different than what our experienced congress people are doing today? I think not.
Congress can set their own term limits but only with a constitutional change. This would require a 2/3 majority from both houses. Our states were once able to set term limits on their own congress people. However, someone sued the states (years ago) and the supreme court decided that the states did not have that right. So much for states rights; which is a completely separate subject.
So what can we, as the people who are supposed to be served by our legislators, do about this? I am not sure; possibly we have to find another way to sue and get the Supreme Court to reverse the decision that kept the states from setting limits on their own Congress People. This would be a second step to fix the system; our first being to get out and vote the inept from holding the seat for too long.
That’s it from me.
My constitutional knowledge is limited but my anger at congress is not!