Fixing Justice

Want to get better justices? Look beyond the bench.

By Jim Newton
April 30, 2008

» Discuss Article (3 Comments)

As the next president searches for a justice, he or she would do well to start far away from the bench.

It has become the pattern in recent years to search for justices exclusively among professional judges, generally in the federal appellate courts. That's a natural concession to the politics of confirmation--federal judges have records that are easily scoured for ideological purity, and they've already been confirmed at least once. But the result has been a narrowing of the Supreme Court's range of experience and an increasing irrelevance of the court in the larger field of national government. Today, not a single sitting justice came to bench with any experience in elected political office (Sandra Day O'Connor was the last justice to have come to her position with that in her background).

Read the rest of this article at the Brennan Center for Justice.

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Discussion

Where should the president start looking for the next Supreme Court justice? Discuss today's Extra.

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1. Did you see Scalia on 60 minutes? Is he scary or what? And to think he will be around for life. Hello? "Torture is not cruel and unusual punishment, because you can't punish for something you haven't learned yet" Could we change the name to cruel and unsual TREATMENT? By any name it is inhuman. And he is the best of the best. NO NO NO
Submitted by: Ruth Wessels
11:46 AM PDT, May 2, 2008

2. There is too much politics in the justice system already. I advocate the promote up system to fix this problem. For each vacant Federal District position, a current or former state judge can apply to fill that vacancy. The most qualified judge in terms of years of experience, most cases handle, least amount of overturns and good behavioral record would be selected. Vacancies at the appellate leve are then filled by the senior most District judge. When a Supreme Court vacancy occurs, the senior most appellate judge would fill that vacancy. Keep the confirmation out of the politicians hands. That's how you will get better justices.
Submitted by: Michael White
4:11 PM PDT, Apr 30, 2008

3. good idea.......look outside the bench for supreme court justices.....hey, maybe Harriet Meyers?
Submitted by: phil
6:41 AM PDT, Apr 30, 2008

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