Team A: Justices Should Have Life Terms In The Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton quoted a great French thinker, Charles-Louis de Montesquieu, who understood the importance of an independent judiciary: “There is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers.” Anything less than life tenure will make a justice vulnerable to political influence. Supreme Court justices are living longer, but so is the population in general. Critics have not pointed to any specific Supreme Court decisions as flawed because a justice was incompetent due to advanced age. The confirmation process is highly politicized, it is true, but it could be just as politicized under a new system. The real key to the confirmation process is how well the two parties can cooperate, not how often vacancies occur. The current system has stood the test of time, and there is not good reason to change it.

Team B: Justices have limited terms
We need to limit the terms Supreme Court justices serve for several reasons. First, the length of their term in office has grown. According to one study, from 1789 – 1970, justices served terms of about 15 years on average. Since 1970, however, justices have served an average of 26 years. With increasingly longer terms, it becomes more likely that a president will serve an entire term without begin a le to nominate a justice, thus eroding an important power of the executive.
It is likely that some justices stay on the Court even when their mental and physical powers are weakened, relying on the assistance of talented law clerks. There is an even more important reason for establishing term limits, however. When vacancies occur so infrequently due to the long tenures, the battles over appointments to the Court tend to become bitter and divisive to the nation. Finally, because such long tenures are possible, a president may be tempted to appoint a relatively young justice with less experience.

Part III – Write your opinion essay (18 pts)

7)Decide your position on the issue.
8)Use the information in opinions A & B and the various resources below to support your position.

9)Write a three-paragraph opinion essay.
- Paragraph #1: Persuasive Lead. What is the current policy? What is your position on the
Issue - THESIS?
-Paragraph #2: One piece of evidence to support your position. Explain.
-Paragraph #3: Another piece of evidence to support your position. Explain.
-Paragraph #4: Clinching Conclusion & summary