This week’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh paints a photo of how divisive and dysfuctional our nation has become. We have a dysfunctional president, a dysfunctional Congress, and an electorate that at times is dysfunctional.
It seems that Congress cannot agree on anything. They spend their time haggling over partisan issues. They forget that it is not about being a Republican or Democrat, but it is about being American, and what is good for this country. They’ve forgotten how to give and take and to respect each other.
This week’s hearings were dramatic, hostile at times, and there was no clear winner. For sure, either Kavanaugh or his accuser is lying. Perhaps, we will never know the truth. But, two families have suffered great hurt and Kavanaugh, if confirmed, will always serve with a cloud of doubt hanging over his head.
The whole exercise of nominating and confirming Supreme Court judges has become a grab for power. Whatever happens, this much is clear: Lifetime federal court appointments are among the most valuable of partisan political spoils, and they are only increasing in value.
But does it have to be this way? Is there a way to de-escalate the judicial wars? One possibility might be judicial term limits.
As is often the case in politics, where you stand is based at least in part on where you sit. That said, Americans typically support the idea of term limits, for judges or otherwise. For instance, term limits for Congress routinely attract levels of support as high or higher. Currently 15 states have term limits for state legislators, most of which were implemented in the early 1990s as part of a national movement. Many states also tried to apply term limits to Congress, but the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against congressional term limits in 1995, arguing that term limits could not be applied to Congress without a constitutional amendment.
Judicial term limits face a similar constitutional hurdle, and amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress and support from three-quarters of the states. So are judicial term limits likely even though they are popular? No. But in a time of horrific partisan rancor and growing government dysfunction and partisanship, the American political imagination should open itself to at least considering seemingly drastic reforms.
However, it is not likely to happen, but what happened this past week in Washington is not good. No one should be subjected to what Brett Kavanaugh and his family were put through this week — and on national television! Neither should his accuser have been assailed like she was. Lest we forget, she, too, is a victim. There has to be a better way of doing things.
And, then this question: Should someone be denied a future because of something that happened 25 years ago? People change. If we were honest, we all have something in our past that we regret. The Bible has a lot to say about repentance and forgiveness. Perhaps, that is wherein our answers lie.