Article Writing Homework Help

Write a 6 pages paper on life tenure in the judiciary. It has been believed that the provision would insulate justices from politics and to safeguard the Court from undue influence from outside interests. The Federalist papers give us an insight into the rationale behind this concept. In Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that judges should remain in office “as long as they exhibit good behavior.” Before the U.S. Constitution was adopted, he wrote in 1788, that “the standard of good behavior . . . is certainly one of the most valuable of the modern improvements in the practice of government.” He further said that “in a republic, it is no less excellent barrier to the encroachments and oppressions of the representative body. And it is the best expedient which can be devised in any government, to secure a steady, upright, and impartial administration of the laws.” ( Federalist papers, cited in Rethinking life tenure for judges). With the inclusion of life tenure in the Constitution, the presumption is that judges can make independent court decisions, some of which can be unpopular. They do not have to worry about losing office as a consequence of unpopular decisions.

The term “good behavior” has never been authoritatively defined as it pertains to the conduct of judges. Some have criticized some unpopular decisions and the rationales behind them as proof of “bad” behavior, but this does not hold true where good behavior is described as “a favorable manner of conducting oneself.” If decisions unpalatable to some individuals, or even the majority, are used as a basis of impeachment by Congress, the judiciary would become politicized and subject to the whims of the majority. (See Good Behavior).