580
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
580 points (97.5% liked)
politics
18966 readers
7 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
That had to do with size of the court.
Constitution says it's a lifetime appointment, though.
Can have all the rules you want, which the justices are free to ignore because the Constitution says it's a lifetime seat.
You just have to be creative. Pass a law saying holding a Supreme Court seat for more than 20 years is a capital crime.
That would be unconstitutional and ruled that way, too. The law cannot take away a thing guaranteed by the Constitution (the lifetime appointment).
There would need to be an impeachment or amendment. Or court-packing.
It would be evil and unethical, yes, but not unconstitutional. They would still be justices right up until their execution, so it’s still a lifetime appointment.
It could still run up against tue 8th Amendment, more specifically the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Edit to add: being convicted of a capital crime does not guarantee a death sentence. Anything less than death still bumps into a Constitutional issue.
Coming and going, there's a likely Constituional challenge. An amendment would almost be easier.
Ah, but the Supreme Court has repeatedly found that execution is not in and of itself cruel and unusual punishment, as long as you follow procedures and don’t apply it arbitrarily.
“ In Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the Court refused to expand Furman. The Court held the death penalty was not per se unconstitutional as it could serve the social purposes of retribution and deterrence.” (From https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/death_penalty#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20has%20ruled,it%20must%20be%20carried%20out.)
In this case, deterring justices from staying on the bench forever. :-)
If, however, the passage of this law made SCOTUS decide the throw precedent to the wind (and this is the court to do it) and decide that the death penalty WAS in fact unconstitutional, I’d still take it as a win
I'm not saying a death penalty of any kind is cruel or unusual. I'm saying it would be for this.
Give this a look?
Most notably:
"To measure proportionality, the court must look at several factors. These factors include:
I think you think I'm saying one thing, when I'm communicating something less superficial. I'm not saying there cannot be a death penalty.
I'm saying if you want that for SCOTUS, it needs to meet the above criteria.
death penalty isn't cruel or unusual. scotus said so themselves. they even said a punishment could be cruel as long as it isn't unusual.
My other comment addresses this.
Well obviously you're not a serious person.
I’m a serious enough person (but barely enough). That wasn’t a serious suggestion though.
Sorry friend I don't know you as a person. You're right, your suggestion wasn't serious.
And president terms are 4 years. Doesn't stop impeachment though.
Yes, Supreme Court justices cna be impeached. I think it has happened one time?