Neil Gorsuch

[Dill]

(02-01-2017, 10:19 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: The reason they have the job for life is that, ideally, the position is apolitical. Making it a lifetime appointment reduces the politicization of the SCOTUS. It doesn't make it zero, the justices are politicians as well, but putting limits on their time on the bench does make it more political than it already is. Even long terms like the 15-20 politicize the job more.

Well said. The Federalist Papers hash this over (e.g. #51 and #78) as part of the balance between branches of gov.  The point was to make the top representatives of this branch as independent of "emoluments" from the others as possible, and their "powers" as well.  Also the point was to insulate the position from the always changing currents of elections and party politics.

 Madison and Hamilton always seem to have had the "long game" of politics in view, recognizing that "factions" could for a short term dominate the executive or legislative. As the system is supposed to work, if one or two judges tend to skew decisions in favor of one faction, then this will favor an eventual counter-balancing appointment.

To put this another way, no one politician or appointment can really be apolitical, but the effect of the system as a whole prevents any faction from dominating long term.