Aging Justices - Federalist #79
In Federalist #79 Alexander Hamilton continues his argument about lifetime judicial appointments, focusing on their salaries.
Federalist #79
Alexander Hamilton
June 18, 1788
In Federalist #79 Alexander Hamilton discusses why the Judicial Department should be given lifetime appointments.
To this effect, he calms fears about old age leading to inability in office.
He also confirms why the pay structure for Justices has been set up as it has in the Constitution.
Judicial Salaries
Several Anti-Federalists had been critical of the idea that Judges could never constitutionally have their pay reduced.
Hamilton echos an argument he made in Federalist #73 that he made while discussing the President’s salary...that giving Congress the ability to reduce a Justice’s pay would give you control over their decisions.
Only permitting Congress to raise pay (when inflation deems it necessary) maintains the independence of the Judicial Department.
Aging Poorly
Hamilton goes on to address fears of a lifetime appointee losing their ‘abilities.’
Critics note that at the end of a long life, aged Justices might begin to lose some of their mental faculties.
First, Alexander demonstrates that impeachment works the same way with Judges as it does for the President.
Quickly though, Hamilton brushes off this concern by pointing out that most people who live past 60 (which was the maximum age for a Judge in New York at the time) will still have the reasoning power of their mind long after their bodies begin to give way.
Additionally, even if this were to happen, the chances that a MAJORITY of the Judges were to all suffer from this same issue is highly unlikely.
Furthermore, to remove someone from office of this nature at an advanced age would simply be cruel.
A Justice, who has dedicated their life to their country and come to depend on the salary as a career, being thrown out on the street because they were ‘too old’ would be an embarrassing site indeed.
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