pilots are required to retire @ age 65, should supreme court justices have an age limit?

Question

pilots are responsible for the safety of the lives of hundreds of people on each flight.

supreme court justices make decisions that affect the lives of millions for the unforeseeable future.

senility should not rule the US

Answer 1

FDR had a scheme of this sort, the goal of which was to allow him to appoint new justices that would support his viewpoints.

I don't see any evidence of senility among our current Justices. Anyone who is able to sit through the cases, weigh the evidence, and play a role in composing the long and complex decisions they turn out (with the help of their clerks) certainly still retains a degree of mental acuity.

Go ahead and try to change the Constitution to set an upper age limit for Justices, but the idea is that they are appointed for life or until they choose to leave, barring bad behavior. Any arbitrary age limit may lessen judicial independence, and there is no way to set an age at which all people should retire - some are sharp until they're 95, others are dulled at 60.

Answer 2

No - Very few Justices have continued to remain on the Supreme court when they were unable to think and write clearly. The other Justices will get together and encourage a justice to retire if they see that he or she is no longer able to work effectively.

With trial judges, who deal with testimony in court and with juries, a mandatory retirement age may make more sense as it is a different kind of skill -

Answer 3

No, because not all old Supreme Court Justices are senile.

Probably the greatest legal mind that the Court has ever had was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who served until he was almost 91. By the time he retired, he was indeed beginning to show signs of senility, but when it was pointed out to him that his performance was declining, he did retire.

Supreme Court Justices are, indeed, a big problem. But that is because of their arrogance, not their age.

Answer 4

Well, you are correct as to the requirements. And you DO NOT have to be lawyer to be a Judge at any level, this is a myth promoted by, who else?, lawyers. I would rather have you on the Supreme Court then some that are there now. You could replace Souter. You and Clarence would get along fine and I ain't jokin' about that to be funny, I mean that seriously. The Court needs real people, just like you.

Answer 5

I would prefer an older pilot with over the top flying hours until he's unable to function in that cockpit anyway. There is more experience there, and most importantly they have seen more flight issues than anyone else who is new.

The supreme court decisions are a different story all together. However, age and experience = WISDOM and all that extra knowledge. Unless they have dementia or Alzheimer's...I would say no, no age limit.

Answer 6

I am sure their is a way to make a justice retire when they are senile. Pilots have up to 535 lives (Airbus 380) in their hands, Flying an aircraft has a lot to do woth reaction time of your body, not with your ability to think!

Some of our brightest people have also been some of our oldest!

Answer 7

I wondered about what my country was telling me when the news said that Regan has Alzheimer's and 6 months out of office was not recognizing people. Alzheimer is a long slow pocess that does not go from normal to not recognizing people in 6 months. My question was and still is who was running the government. All his health check ups reported he was in tip top shape. Now the news talk about a Supreme Court justice running around in his pjs thinking someone is out to get him. Not all people as they get older develop Alzheimers or become addicted to drugs but there needs to be something in place that requires an evaluation to determine if that person is able to continue in his office. We need to honor older people for their wisdom and listen to them often but we don't need to have impaired leaders making decisions that effect millions.

Answer 8

What makes you think people are senile at 65? You don't throw wisdom out the window because of grey hair.

Answer 9

Pilots' jobs depends on PHYSICAL ability, while a judge's job does not.

Also, it is offensive to imply that a person is senile at 65.

Answer 10

Hello,

Yes. Absolutely.

I never understood why our constitution was written to let sup court judges have a life term. That is just scary.

Hope this helps you................ : - O