Appointing vs. Electing Judges to the Supreme Court Essay

Appointing vs. Electing Judges to the Supreme Court - Essay Example Supreme Court Justices should be appointed and not elected despite arguments against the practice. Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. This view is not approved by all of the American public. Some see it as just a game between the President and Senate. The president â€Å"shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint" various high-level executive and judicial officers† which includes Supreme Court Justices (Amar and Amar). It could be speculated that the President and Senate make and approves appointments for personal reasons such as individual politics. For example, conservatives appoint conservatives, like Bush’s appointment of Clarence Thomas. Another argument is too much power comes to the nine Supreme Court Justices, since these judges are not elected. Bork suggests â€Å"The nations of the West are increasingly governed not by law or elected representatives, but by unelected, unrepresentative, unaccountable committees of lawyers applying no law other than their own will† (13). Many major decisions have been made by nine Justices. An example would be when the Supreme Court ordered schools to be desegregated. This decision still affects children today. For years students were bussed from one end of the town to another just to integrate schools on the Supreme Court Justices’ ruling. The appointments of Supreme Court Justices are a vote of the people, even though they are not direct elections. The President and Senate are both elected by the people. This allows the people a voice, but in a narrower way. The safeguard is once the Justice has their appointment, the President or Senate no longer has any power over them. Founding Fathers of the United States put this checks and balance system into place. â€Å"Presidents and Senators are free to base their decisions on the likely voting patterns of nominees, but may not extract pledges or promises†