Supreme Court: Term limits would ensure equity

Re: “Trump to Senate: Vote ‘without delay’ on his high court pick,” (TNT, 9/20).

The dilemma of each political party advocating to fill or table a Supreme Court vacancy based on who controls the executive branch can be solved by term limits.

The Constitution does not grant life tenure to Supreme Court justices. Future justices should serve no longer than 18 years, thus establishing two Supreme Court picks per presidential term.

The general election for president began earlier this month when North Carolina mailed out ballots.

The Senate majority leader has stated that he will do during an election in 2020 what he refused to do during an election year in 2016, proving again that there is a stark difference between norms/precedent and established law.

There is scant hope that this vacancy will not be filled prior to the next presidential inauguration, but our system of self-governance can make needed changes that will influence the court in perpetuity.

It is incumbent upon Congress to divest the appointment of justices from capricious political avarice and enshrine the Supreme Court with everlasting equity through the establishment of term limits.

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Supreme Court: Term limits would ensure equity."