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March 2, 2006
We Could Call It, I Don't Know, a "Court Strengthening Plan" or Something
So I was thinking about this and I think I came up with an idea. Just go with me on this for a second. A couple of the justices are really pretty old -- in fact, over 70. They're tired and overworked, but they've got life tenure, and we can't kick them off. So check this out: I think that for every justice over the age of 70, the President should be given the power to appoint an additional justice to the Court, just to make sure that the Court is not overworked or anything. I swear, this idea just came to me like a bolt out of the blue.
It's so crazy, it just might work.
Posted by Eric at March 2, 2006 10:41 PM
Comments
While it isn't the most professional for a Justice to fall asleep, isn't adding more justices a little drastic? FDR had the whole court stuffing idea and now this seems like this idea would give whatever administration is in power the ability to make the court in their image. I think that our current system works fine, it's just that the justices need to put their ego's aside and retire when they are old. Ginsburg and some of the other justices should be enjoying a beach somewhere with their grandkids, not working long hours on cases.
Posted by: Ginzer at March 3, 2006 12:13 AM
Kicked through the uprights. Right over someone's head.
Posted by: David Weigel at March 3, 2006 8:30 AM
Eric,
It's pretty distressing to learn that people over 70 are "really pretty old." I guess I better go home and take a nap.
Barry
Posted by: Barry Winston at March 3, 2006 12:23 PM
second the motion on that idea.
Posted by: RONW at March 3, 2006 12:23 PM
Hell, I'm barely over a third her age, and I want to go home and take a nap.
Posted by: Saheli at March 3, 2006 1:08 PM
The age 70 proposal is almost exactly what FDR's plan was:
"granting the president the power to nominate an additional judge for every federal judge who, having served a minimum of 10 years, did not resign or retire within six months after reaching age 70"
Posted by: Gerry at March 3, 2006 1:08 PM
The age 70 proposal is almost exactly what FDR's plan was
Gerry, do you think it possible that this was intentional? I'll give you a hint about how I took this post: I chuckled.
Posted by: Michael Benson at March 3, 2006 3:08 PM
What? What was that you were saying Ginzer? I fell asleep.
Posted by: JohnA at March 3, 2006 3:29 PM
have we never heard of judges nodding off for a bit before?
i think the justices should fall asleep MORE OFTEN. some of those statutory interpretation cases are really boring, and the counsel are even worse.
a justice falling asleep at least gives you an indication that you need to liven up your argument: one justice (par for the course), two justices (stop arguing what Chevron really means), three justices (stop arguing the income tax is unconstitutional), and so on.
Posted by: nc_litigator at March 6, 2006 9:45 AM
Eric,
Why are you surprised at the earnest response to your modest proposal? To get the joke you need a sense of history and a sense of irony; these are lately regarded as unpatriotic. You also need to have learned somewhere about the court-packing scheme. Finally, you need a long enough memory
to regard radical powergrabs by the executive as an unusual event that Congress would never abide. You liberal elite types will never learn.
Posted by: tfw at March 7, 2006 5:28 PM