I agree with the lifetime appointments needing to go but such changes would require support and cooperation from our two major parties. The wealthy and powerful folks running our two parties are unlikely to support amendments that will inevitably bring unknown variables into play when those unknowns could effectively weaken the current power and control held by the parties. They prefer status quo over significant change because status quo makes it easier for power to be preserved and maintained. This is why congressional term limits gets discussed occasionally by campaigning politicians but there is never a serious legislative push to make it happen. The power held by our two major parties has become stronger than the power and will of the American people. |
The Democrats have been feckless, but there's no denying the Republicans are actively working to thwart the "power and will of the American people." Wisconsin is a good example, although it's not swinging back a bit. Texas is another great example - the state legislature enacted a law allowing it to run the elections in Harris County - the largest and most diverse county in the state. No surprise it votes reliably blue. |
The solution is rather easy.
One justice for each of the circuits. Still only 9 hear any given case at random or by rotation. Nothing else changes. |
For the people who don’t have time to pore over the chart in that link… Thomas has been on the court longer than any of the other justices, but these numbers are still simply staggering if correct. Total gifts disclosed by all SC justices: $2,993,036 Total gifts disclosed just by Justice Thomas: $2,402,310 Out of all the gifts disclosed by all the Supreme Court justices in the last 20 years, Thomas alone received 80% of them. If Thomas’s $2.4 million seems high, it’s because the second highest gift total disclosed by a justice in the last 20 years was Scalia’s $175,861; the 3rd highest was Alito’s $170,095; and the 4th highest was Stevens’s $79,059. This group identified another $1.8 million in “likely,” undisclosed gifts to Thomas, based on investigative journalism. |
And he just belatedly reported two more vacations paid for by Harlan Crowe in 2019 that he "forgot" about when he made his 2019 disclosure. But remember folks, lying on federal forms is a serious crime. If you are Hunter Biden. If you are Clarence Thomas, then no biggie. |