Poll: Most Support Justice Retirement Age (AP/Yahoo)

Poll: Most Support Justice Retirement Age
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Six in 10 Americans say there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to an Associated Press poll. The survey found public support for an idea that has arisen periodically in Congress without ever making headway.

Only one of the nine current justices is younger than 65. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, appointed to the court by President Nixon, has thyroid cancer. In the survey, people were asked if they could identify what job Rehnquist held, and 59 percent did not know.

The appointment of justices without term limits or a mandatory retirement age historically has helped to insulate the court from politics, said Dennis Hutchinson, a Supreme Court expert from the University of Chicago Law School. At the same time, that can have the unintended consequence of letting some justices serve beyond their most effective years.

Oh boy, here we go! Now you just freakin' know this is the next thing they're going to go for in trying to overturn R v W

But its to much to expect people to think and do issue research in the age of reality tv, isn't it?

Edit: spelling, as usual. doh!

6 in 10 haven't a clue what job Chief Justice Rehnquist holds. Oh, yeah, here's an educated populous with well-considered opinions.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2109807

Talk About Your Overrated Job
Why would anybody want to be chief justice?
By Dahlia Lithwick

(Yeah I didn't know what difference being the Chief justice makes)

that demands restrictions on a job they know nothing about. The article clearly states that 60 percent of those polled do not know what job Rehnquist holds, not what the demands of that job may be.

ment. They will set up special deals and jobs to provide for their retirement years. Don't mess with it. It gives room for corruption. Now no one knows when they will die so they must always try to do their best.Now they cannot be lobbied and influenced to pad their future with a corporation or another government or family benefit. The basic laws of government work. Don't think we can change them for the better.

That would give the Shrub the opportunity to pack the whole court.

I'd also guess less than 3 in 10 of Americans over the age of 60 believe this. Age, in and of itself, guarantees neither wisdom nor incompetence. Wisdom, in my opinion, is far less likely among those under the age of 30 than among those over the age of 60. Likewise, incompetence is far more likely among those under the age of 30 than among those over the age of 60.

Personally, I'd rather have a minimum age on the Supreme Court than a maximum. I'd personally prefer a minimum age of 60. Then, at least, we'd not have to put up with Thomas - far less wise and competent than Thurgood Marshall, even on his death bed.