They didn’t.
Although there is no prescribed term limit for Supreme Court Justices, it is a common misconception that they have a lifetime appointment.
There is a critical limitation in the Constitution that is often ignored as if it didn’t exist. Justices hold their office ONLY upon “good behavior.” Review of the behavior of each SCOTUS Justice is a duty of the other two branches. Congress can and should evaluate the actions of each Justice on a regular basis, and remove any Justice from the Court that the legislature considers acting improperly.
The Article III Section I text is “The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour . . ..”
Death or voluntary retirement when senile wasn’t what the Founders were thinking for the term end of a SCOTUS justice. Additionally, in the 1770s no one thought that a Justice would voluntarily stay on the Court for life, any more than they thought Congressmen would stay in Congress for life. Men had home lives to live, farms to run, businesses to manage–the expectation is that they would serve for a while then hand the job over to a new person. No federal government role was thought to be a lifestyle and lifetime endeavor once inside access was gained. The Founders generally didn’t even think of this as a possibility that needed to be limited–recall they didn’t even impose a term limit on the president in the 1787 proposed Constitution.
In reality today, by shirking their responsibility, Congress has effectively handed SCOTUS Justices a “lifetime” appointment. Hence their appointment is commonly referred to as such, albeit not actually the case.
This lack of holding Justices accountable and limiting their office term is not a fault of the Founders in writing the Constitution, rather it is a fault of a Congress that rarely accepts responsibility for anything.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Liberty Block or any of its members. We welcome all forms of serious feedback and debate.
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