Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

It's time to end life tenure at the Supreme Court

Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg

There's no "Antonin Scalia" or "Ruth Bader Ginsburg" seat mentioned in the Constitution, "but it sure feels that way," writes Gabe Roth.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Roth is executive director of Fix the Court, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for greater transparency and accountability in the federal judiciary.


Two Supreme Court justices have been hospitalized in the past month for serious health issues. Either could have died, reshaping the court — and the law — for decades. These close calls have increased interest in a question that scholars have been debating since our nation's founding: Should justices serve on the high court for life?

The simple answer is that they shouldn't. And there's a straightforward and widely popular fix that would safeguard judicial independence while preventing superannuation: establishing 18-year term limits for future justices.

Chief Justice John Roberts is only 65, but given his history of seizures, the June 21 fall that landed him in the hospital for a night was of great concern for those who've praised his efforts to keep the court above the political fray during the Trump presidency. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who's 87, spent a night in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore last week for a possible infection and subsequently announced she's being treated for a recurrence of cancer, reigniting liberals' fears over a possible vacancy during the peak of a presidential campaign.

Ginsburg's health has caused anxiety ever since Republicans took control of the Senate after the 2014 election, when she was a mere 81 and had already served on the high court for 21 years. That should have been enough time to make her mark on the law, right?

In the past, justices would leave the court for all sorts of reasons after tenures of 15 to 20 years — sometimes even less. Then they'd run for office, take a different government appointment, return to private practice or simply enjoy their sunset years. Nowadays, justices hold on to their power for as long as they can, say 30 or 35 years — and then continue holding on to it until a president with whom they tend to agree sits in the Oval Office.

There's no "Ginsburg seat" or "Antonin Scalia seat" mentioned in the founding document, but it sure feels that way.

The fate of our nation's laws should rest in the hands of individuals who hold their positions based on fairness and regularity, not on actuarial tables and support for the current president.

That's why I, and many others who are much smarter, advocate limiting future justices to 18 years of active service. After that, they would become "senior justices," maintaining the same office and compensation as Article III of the Constitution commands, but not hearing cases unless called upon. Under this proposal, senior justices could also choose to serve on a lower court by designation, something that justices who have retired from the court regularly  do.

The elegance of the 18-year plan is that it allows each president to nominate two of the nine justices per four-year term, with no exceptions. In the case of an unexpected vacancy — because of death or medical emergency, say — a senior justice would fill in until the expiration of the term of the departed justice. For example, when Scalia died four years ago, the court would not have been reduced to eight justices; rather, the most recently retired justice, John Paul Stevens, would have taken his place until the next justice was confirmed.

Term limits for the Supreme Court are widely popular, with polling this spring showing 77 percent of Americans favoring the reform. It's an idea that has received support from intellectuals across the political spectrum and was recently endorsed by the American Academy for Arts and Sciences, a society founded a decade before the Constitution was ratified.

Limiting justices' terms would not magically end the hyperpartisanship in Washington today. But it would greatly reduce the chance and gamesmanship that currently characterize the process of confirming justices. Not happy with a recently confirmed justice? No problem. The next opportunity to shape the court is coming in 24 months.

Such regularity would reduce the temperature of today's Senate confirmation process, promote fair-mindedness and increase the chances the future justices are seasoned jurists in their 50s or 60s — and not firebrands in their 40s replacing jurists in their 90s, which is what the current system encourages.

"There is much to be said for changing life tenure to a term of years, without possibility of reappointment," one of President Rondald Reagan's lawyers wrote in 1983. Term limits, he added "would ensure that federal judges would not lose all touch with reality through decades of ivory tower existence. It would also provide a more regular and greater degree of turnover among the judges. Both developments would, in my view, be healthy ones."

That lawyer was John Roberts. Congress should heed that advice and pass a law. Though the Constitution implies a justice serves for life, it doesn't say on which court she shall serve out her days.

Serve 18 years on the Supreme Court, then rotate to a lower court or retire outright, and return to the high court if needed. That way fairness, not a cabal of the infirm, will reign supreme.

Read More

Beyond the Game: Pioneering Women’s Healthcare in Collegiate Athletics

Olympic Trials

Beyond the Game: Pioneering Women’s Healthcare in Collegiate Athletics

For decades, collegiate sports have served as a powerful platform for achievement, community, and identity. But amid the victories and records, a quieter struggle persists—one rooted in systemic neglect of women's unique health needs. While gender disparities have garnered increasing attention across society, the gap in sports medicine remains pronounced. Less than 2%of federally allocated research funding targets reproductive health and related issues, leaving many female athletes without the tailored support necessary to thrive.

Recognizing this gap, the University of Washington has begun pioneering initiatives to address women’s healthcare needs in collegiate athletics, emphasizing a holistic, research-informed approach. These efforts aim not only to improve individual athlete outcomes but also to set a precedent for other institutions seeking to foster gender equity in sports medicine.

Keep ReadingShow less
Navigating the Medical Maze: It’s Hard Enough With Full Health Coverage

A doctor treating a patient in a hospital.

Getty Images, Bevan Goldswain

Navigating the Medical Maze: It’s Hard Enough With Full Health Coverage

The woman on the phone from the Mayo Clinic was growing exasperated as she ran through how to sweep up my medical records.

“So, you got the CT scan in Storm Lake? And the hormone therapy in Spencer? And the MRI at Mercy and biopsy someplace else in Sioux City? And a PET scan at June Nylen Cancer Center in Sioux City? And what at Iowa City? And California? Where?”

Keep ReadingShow less
Solutions to an Illinois City's Flooding Issue

Flooded basement

(Credit Micah Caldwell)

Solutions to an Illinois City's Flooding Issue

Following months of research, canvassing, and listening to community needs, journalists, including Britton Struthers-Lugo, produced solutions-based stories about the challenges faced by the Berwyn, Illinois, community.

In Part 1, "Illinois Residents Grapple With Urban Flooding," Struthers-Lugo examined the issue of urban flooding, a growing concern for residents and infrastructure in Berwyn.

Keep ReadingShow less
RFK Advisory Panel Firings Betrays Senator Cassidy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (R), U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services speaks with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) after testifying in his Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Kevin Dietsch

RFK Advisory Panel Firings Betrays Senator Cassidy

Our hyperpolarized politics as well as a malfunctioning Congress may end up making Americans much less healthy.

The Senate confirmation and recent actions taken by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., highlight the utter dysfunction in our politics and within the legislative body strangled by partisanship.

Keep ReadingShow less