retirement age of supreme court judges in usa
Supreme Court of the United States Critic Larry Sabato wrote: "The insularity of lifetime tenure, combined with the appointments of relatively young attorneys who give long service on the bench, produces senior judges representing the views of past generations better than views of the current day."[226] Sanford Levinson has been critical of justices who stayed in office despite medical deterioration based on longevity.[254] James MacGregor Burns stated lifelong tenure has "produced a critical time lag, with the Supreme Court institutionally almost always behind the times."[210] Proposals to solve these problems include term limits for justices, as proposed by Levinson[255] and Sabato[226][256] as well as a mandatory retirement age proposed by Richard Epstein,[257] among others.[258] However, others suggest lifetime tenure brings substantial benefits, such as impartiality and freedom from political pressure. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 wrote "nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office."[259]