Morning Jolt: Living Under the Sword of Damocles That Is Elderly Supreme Court Justices

For at least a generation, we've lived with elderly Supreme Court justices. Last year, David Ingold of Bloomberg noted, "With two current justices more than 80 years old and a third joining them next year, the projected age when a justice will leave the Supreme Court is now about 83 — that's a 10-year increase from the 1950s."

We live in an era of judicial supremacy, decisions that some would argue constitute judicial activism . . . and in any given year, at least a handful of justices who are old enough to join the cast of a reboot of The Golden Girls. It's sort of a Damocles Sword for our system of laws — at any given moment, one of the nine might announce a retirement or move on to the Pearly Gates and suddenly "alter the balance of the Court," ushering in a period of dramatically different interpretations of the First Amendment, Second Amendment, the commerce clause, and "emanating penumbras" than just a few years earlier.

However, it's fair to wonder just how much Justice Anthony Kennedy's departure will really alter ...

June 28 2018

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Living Under the Sword of Damocles That Is Elderly Supreme Court Justices

Jim Geraghty

For at least a generation, we've lived with elderly Supreme Court justices. Last year, David Ingold of Bloomberg noted, "With two current justices more than 80 years old and a third joining them next year, the projected age when a justice will leave the Supreme Court is now about 83 — that's a 10-year increase from the 1950s."

We live in an era of judicial supremacy, decisions that some would argue constitute judicial activism . . . and in any given year, at least a handful of justices who are old enough to join the cast of a reboot of The Golden Girls. It's sort of a Damocles Sword for our system of laws — at any given moment, one of the nine might announce a retirement or move on to the Pearly Gates and suddenly "alter the balance of the Court," ushering in a period of dramatically different interpretations of the First Amendment, Second Amendment, the commerce clause, and "emanating penumbras" than just a few years earlier.

However, it's fair to wonder just how much Justice Anthony Kennedy's departure will really alter ... Read More

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