The Necessity of a Constitutional Convention

I've been giving quite a bit of thought recently to the obvious, increasingly unconstitutional behavior by Congress and presidents of both parties since as far back as Wilson.

Having begun reading and listening to others of similar bent, I am aware that the progressive-backed amendments of the 1910s were passed by Congress to head off a state-called Constitutional Convention. Nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of lifetime federal politicians than the prospect of a Constitutional Convention which could result in massive revisions to the Constitution, and the possibility of more explicitly-worded limits on federal power.

Consider just two simple aspects of the Constitution which probably made sense at its writing, but no longer do.

Congressional term limits. Back in 1789, an average lifespan was in the neighborhood of 35 years. To become a Senator required sufficient maturity and accomplishment that one probably didn't realistically become eligible until one's mid-30s. A 60-year old person in those days was quite old. Thus, three terms in the Senate was likely seen as about as much as most men would serve.

Further, serving in Washington required leaving one's farm or business. Being a Congressman wasn't considered a full-time job. It's likely that nobody seriously envisioned anyone being foolish enough to make federal representative office one's entire career.

Thus, between a shorter lifespan, career obligations and the need to support a family, it's quite possible that the Framers simply didn't conceive of a context in which career service as a US Representative or Senator was possible. Or even desirable.

And what about the Supreme Court? I don't have exact data, but I'm guessing that men didn't ascend to that body much before the age of 40. If a man was old upon reaching 60, then a 20-year term on the highest bench would be what was probably understood to be the 'lifetime' appointment.

Now, it's not uncommon for a Justice to serve on the Supreme Court for more than 30 years. For example, consider this passage from this webpage,

"Although the average tenure of a Supreme Court Justice from 1789 through 1970 was 14.9 years, for those Justices who have retired since 1970, the average tenure has jumped to 26.1 years. Because of the long tenure of recent members of the Court, there were no vacancies on the high Court from 1994 to the middle of 2005. We believe the American constitutional rule granting life tenure to Supreme Court Justices is fundamentally flawed, resulting now in Justices remaining on the Court for longer periods and to a later age than ever before in American history.

This trend has led to significantly less frequent vacancies on the Court, which reduces the efficacy of the democratic check that the appointment process provides on the Court's membership. The increase in the longevity of Justices' tenure means that life tenure now guarantees a much longer tenure on the Court than was the case in 1789 or over most of our constitutional history. Moreover, the combination of less frequent vacancies and longer tenures of office means that when vacancies do arise, there is so much at stake that confirmation battles have become much more intense. Finally, as was detailed in a recent article by Professor David Garrow, the advanced age of some Supreme Court Justices has at times led to a problem of "mental decrepitude" on the Court, whereby some Justices have become physically or mentally unable to fulfill their duties during the final stages of their careers."

Considering the increasing distance so many voters feel from their elected US representative officials, and the courts, I would personally favor terms limits as follows: 3 consecutive terms for US Representatives, 5 in total; 2 terms for US Senators, and; 15 years for Supreme Court Justices, with similar tenure for lower courts, as well.

Given the Constitution's brevity and limited expression of federal power, I don't believe the Framers intended that there arise a professional class of federal office-holders who would remain in that government for over a generation, i.e., 20 years. For the era of our nation's founding, 20 years would have already been a substantial portion of a man's productive adult life. Now, with much longer average lifespans, our Congress and Supreme Court seem to have become less committed to upholding the Constitution, and more committed to self-preservation.