Why are Supreme Court Justices not elected positions?
For such an important position, it seems un-democratic for Justices to be handpicked by sitting presidents without any input from the public. To top it off, it's a lifetime appointment. Arguably, the Supreme Court has the biggest, longest-lasting impact on the nation, yet citizens have no hand in the matter.
Answers ( 1 )
Because we don't want the Supreme Court to be any more political than it already is. There are ways I'd support reforming how we appoint justices to the US Supreme Court, but, judicial elections are not one of them.
Judges are supposed to be impartial, independent, and should make decisions based on the merits of cases. If you have to raise money and/or run for election, conflicts quickly appear. Studies have shown that campaign contributions affect deicsions. As do how close to an election your case comes up.
There's a good summary of that social science research at the Brennan Center: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-judicial-elections-impact-criminal-cases
Further, it's just not correct to say that US Supreme Court justices are are picked 'without input from the public,' and that 'citizens have no say in the matter.'
We live in a Republic. What that means is: we hire people to make decisions for us by voting. That's the say we get; both by voting on the President who makes the nomination, and on your two US Senators who advise and consent the nomination.
Heck, a recent presidential candidate posted potential Supreme Court picks on his campaign website. That list only solidified my vote for his opponent.
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Brian Shelden