retirement age of supreme court judges in usa
Supreme Court of the United States Critic Larry Sabato wrote: "The insularity of lifetime tenure, combined with the appointments of relatively young attorneys who give long service on the bench, produces senior judges representing the views of past generations better than views of the current day."[226] Sanford Levinson has been critical of justices who stayed in office despite medical deterioration based on longevity.[254] James MacGregor Burns stated lifelong tenure has "produced a critical time lag, with the Supreme Court institutionally almost always behind the times."[210] Proposals to solve these problems include term limits for justices, as proposed by Levinson[255] and Sabato[226][256] as well as a mandatory retirement age proposed by Richard Epstein,[257] among others.[258] However, others suggest lifetime tenure brings substantial benefits, such as impartiality and freedom from political pressure. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 wrote "nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office."[259]
List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom would constitute a quorum.[1][2] Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and appointed after confirmation by the United States Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court have life tenure[3] and receive a salary which is set at $255,500 per year for the chief justice and at $244,400 per year for each associate justice as of 2014.[4][5][6]