There’s not much I like about Rick Perry, but this idea from his book ‘Fed Up’ is one I can definitely get behind:

One solution the governor embraces is to end lifetime tenure — a cornerstone of the Constitution, whose drafters worried far less about activist or senile judges than about meddling tyrants and political pressure.

The idea isn’t original, and it’s not limited to conservatives. Some scholars on the left have also embraced the idea as a correction for judges serving too long.

Our judicial system has changed since the founding fathers granted them lifetime appointments in the Constitution. Back then money wasn’t a big influence, as well as stark differences in ideology. The whole idea of judges was to view everything in a neutral manner and provide sound judgment of the law without outside influence. That has changed and the fact that the judges are granted almost inalienable protection from loss of job, that means they can allow outside influence to play into their decisions without fear of repercussion. The one branch of government we don’t focus on that much can be the one that ends up destroying our democracy, so I would love to see a bigger discussion take place about Perry’s idea, even though he isn’t the only one to float this idea before.