Lifetime or Limited Terms?

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Consider what it means to be in a professional position for a lifetime. Now think about being in a position that serves the public for a lifetime. Is it possible for someone to effectively serve people, particularly in an appointed position, for a lifetime? There are compelling arguments about the U.S. Supreme Court justices and whether or not they should be appointed for life or have limited terms similar to the President or Congress. Think for a moment about what impact this might have on the service to the public and the creation of public policy.

For this Discussion, review this week’s Readings and consider the modern judicial confirmation process.

Post your recommendation for changes to how federal judges are nominated, reviewed, and approved for service. Justify your reasoning. Explain at least two implications the current lifetime appointment has for the judiciary role of “interpreting the Constitution” and how that impacts public policy. Support your response by using the Learning Resources and current literature.

Then explain how judges are nominated, reviewed, and approved for service in Nigeria and how this has impacted public policy.

Be sure to support your postings with specific references to the Readings.

Readings

  • Hudson, W. E. (2017). American democracy in peril: Eight challenges to America’s future (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
    • Chapter 2, “The Second Challenge: The Imperial Judiciary” (pp. 65-101)
  • Shafritz, J. M., Lane, K. S., & Borick, C. P. (Eds.). (2005). Classics of public policy. New York, NY: Pearson Education.
    • Chapter 8, “Policy Reviewing by the Judiciary”
      • The Federalist No. 78 (1778) (pp. 285–290)
      • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (pp. 297–300)
      • Miranda v. Arizona (1966) (pp. 302–309)
  • Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). LII collection: US Supreme Court decisions. Retrieved September 3, 2014, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/supremes.htm
  • Oyez, Inc. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.oyez.org/
  • Supreme Court of the United States. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.supremecourt.gov/