The creation of a federal judicial system was a priority for the new administration, and the first bill introduced in the United States Senate was the Judiciary Act of 1789. The law divided the country into 13 judicial districts, which in turn were organized into three counties: the east, the center and the south. The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, was supposed to sit in the nation`s capital and originally consisted of a chief justice and five associate justices. For the first 101 years of the Supreme Court`s life, but for a brief period in the early 1800s, judges were also required to hold a district court twice a year in each judicial district. Returning to the Constitution, Article III, paragraph 1, also stipulates that federal judges shall receive remuneration and that remuneration “may not be reduced during their term of office”. (As of Jan. 1, 2018, associate judges receive a salary of $255,300 and the Chief Justice receives $267,000.) The Constitution does not determine the number of Supreme Court judges; rather, the number is set by Congress. There were only six, but since 1869 there have been nine judges, including a chief justice. All judges are appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serve for life. Since judges do not have to run or run for re-election, it is believed that they are protected from political pressure when deciding cases.

Judges may remain in office until they resign, die, or are impeached and convicted by Congress. Others point out that life sentences add a random factor in determining the composition of the court, a decidedly undemocratic mechanism in our system. Matt Bruenig points out for the week that Jimmy Carter has not appointed justices to the Supreme Court, but Dwight D. Eisenhower has appointed five. Bill Clinton appointed two in his two terms, while George H.W. Bush appointed the same number in one. The Court of Appeal usually has the final say on the matter, unless it sends the case back to the trial court for a new hearing. In some cases, the decision may be reviewed in a bench, that is, by a larger group of judges of the county Court of Appeals. Well, for one thing, the U.S. Constitution does not specify that the judge and the court are in a relationship “until death do us part.” Article III states that judges (of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts) “shall perform their duties with good conduct.” So, technically, a judge could be removed if he no longer fulfills the “good manners” part of the clause, but otherwise there are no limits to his mandate.

In practice, this means that they have their seat for life unless they are impeached and removed by Congress. Only 15 federal judges in the U.S. The story has already been indicted by Congress — all lower court judges — and only eight have been removed from office, though some resigned before their inevitable impeachment. Supreme Court justices should not sit for more than 18 years, after which they would sit in lower courts and/or fill SCOTUS if there was an unforeseen vacancy. On his Last Week Tonight show, Liberal comedian John Oliver argued that term limits are essential to democracy because lifetime appointments have a host of drawbacks. But not so long ago, Republicans were heard making similar calls. “I think if there was a long term — I don`t know, 18, 20 years, something like that, and it was fixed — I would say it would be good. In fact, it would make my life easier to tell you the truth. “Justice Stephen Breyer1 A single 18-year term on the Supreme Court would impose limits on the most powerful and least accountable branch of the U.S. government.

Each new judge would be added every two years, and since 9 (judges) x 2 (years) = 18, it would take 18 years to reach the end of the cycle, i.e. 18-year terms. Appointments would become predictable exercises, not embarrassing partisan spectacles. The Court`s workload is almost exclusively appealable, and the Court`s decisions cannot be challenged by any authority, since it is the final judicial arbiter in the United States on matters of federal law. However, the court may hear appeals from the highest state courts or federal courts of appeal. The Court also has original jurisdiction over limited types of cases, including those involving ambassadors and other diplomats, as well as inter-state cases. This means that, on average, judges will serve much longer terms than in the past.