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