October 21, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 8

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Wednesday, October 21, 2020 Point: Term limits would make the court Opinion Page “ElkCituNews more recognizable to our founders Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 By Tyler Cooper “The judicial Power of the Today it’s up to 28 years per of appointment are poised Barrett will help InsideSources.com United States shall be vested Maybe no one is above the in one supreme Court, and in law, but unfortunately, in our such inferior Courts as the justice. to write and rewrite national Many attribute increased jurisprudence indefinitely. life expectancies to these Somewhat —_counter-in- destroy the democracy of more than 330 Congress may from time to newly elongated terms, but million people, the vagaries of a few individuals’ mortal- time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the su- 18th century expectancy sta- tuitively, then, term limits tistics were skewed by high- would be a way to bring us Affordable Care Act ity determines the law. Following the passing of preme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices dur- er mortality rates in youth. (In other words, if you came back closer to the Founding Fathers’ original intent for 87-year-old liberal Justice ing good Behaviour, and from a wealthy family and the role of justice - by lim- By Kelsey Lyles, Tribune News Service Ruth Bader Ginsburg last shall, at stated Times, re- lived past age 5, you’d of- iting the influence that any If Republican senators steamroll Amy Coney Barrett month - and with Repub- ceive for their Services, a ten live into your 70s, as one individual has on the lican control of the Senate Compensation, which shall did many of the founders.) onto the Supreme Court, she could become the crucial and presidency - it is ex- not be diminished during According to Stuart Taylor, laws of an expansive nation. fifth vote to overturn the Affordable Care Act, sometimes pected that the court, and their Continuance in Office.” writing for The Atlantic in “No other democracy on called Obamacare. That represents a serious threat to fami- the law, will lurch right. Had Today justices routinely 2005, earlier justices served earth gives largely unre- lies of color. conservative Justice Antonin serve for three-plus decades, shorter terms “in part be- viewable power to govern- Scalia passed away in 2014, with many choosing to re- cause of the rigors of the mental officials for life for This isn’t a theoretical discussion. The Supreme Court when Democrats controlled main on the bench up until ‘riding circuit’ that covered a reason,” writes Georgia is slated to hear oral arguments on the Trump adminis- the Senate, and not 2016, or even through their twi- hundreds of miles on horse- the court and the law would light years. At the age of 48, back.” Justices from the State University law profes- tration’s latest attempt to overturn the ACA on Nov. 10, sor Eric Segall. “Power cor- have swung left. it is easily conceivable that founding era until 1911 were exactly one week after the presidential election. Barrett This very likely is not what President Donald Trump’s required to hear cases across rupts, and power for life cor- could be a justice by then. our founders intended when latest nominee, Amy Coney the burgeoning nation with- rupts even more.” The Trump team’s latest effort to kill the health care writing the framework of Barrett, could serve on the out the advent of modern There is no going back to our judiciary into existence high court for closer to 40 transportation. 18th or 19th century Amer- law turns on its penalty for not having insurance, which in 1787. Their primary goal years. What’s more, three of was to foster independence, This development might the first 10 justices left the ica. But we would do well the 2017 GOP tax bill cut to zero. We don’t know exactly not longevity. have been a surprise to the court to take other positions to consider the evidence that how Barrett would rule, but she strongly criticized Chief The aim was most certain- founders, considering the - something unimaginable the founders never intended Justice John Roberts’ ruling in a prior case upholding the ly not to turn over constitu- first 10 justices served fewer today and underscoring how for the norm to be that each ACA, which involved the same provision. tional disputes to the actu- than eight years on average. the position of “Supreme justice wield any conception arial tables. Shorter service was not Court justice” has evolved. Barrett has also criticized the ACA’s requirement of cov- of “judicial Power” for ten- Luckily, more Americans just a product unique to Over time, the court has erage for contraception, calling it an “assault on religious are beginning to reconsider the founders’ time. Russell gone from being a rela- ures spanning more than a liberty and the rights of conscience.” lifetime appointments to Wheeler of the Brookings In- tively weak body that only quarter-century. the Supreme Court. As they stitution examined Supreme occasionally met due to Tyler Cooper is senior re- Ruling against the ACA would end the health care of Court tenure length and do, it’s worth noting that the other responsibilities, which searcher of Fix the Court, a millions of Americans. And that burden would fall dispro- Constitution’s text only im- found that up until 60 years handled a limited caseload national nonpartisan orga- portionately on Americans of color, who had the highest plies life tenure on the high ago, appointments yielded and rarely overturned law, nization that advocates for uninsured rates prior to the law’s passage and made the court - never actually using 10-15 years of service on to the most powerful, least greater transparency and the word “life” nor referenc- average before jumping to accountable part of our gov- biggest gains under its provisions. ing any length of service in more than 20 years between ernment - a super-legislature accountability in the federal The ACA, while not perfect, has reduced barriers to particular. Article III, Sec- 1959-1975 and to more than comprising nine cloistered judiciary. He wrote this for tion | reads: 25 years between 1981-94. legal titans who at the time InsideSources.com. eligibility and enrollment for low- and moderate-income families. It prohibits insurance providers from charging a patient more due to their risk profile, bans providers from refusing to serve patients with preexisting conditions and Counterpoint: Term limits will make court more politicized allows young adults to remain on their family’s insurance until age 26. All of these provisions, the Trump administration ar- gues, should be eliminated if the Supreme Court rules in By Horace Cooper tires or dies. The best way part risks making thejudicia- for openings or alternatively its favor. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, in a brief filed InsideSources.com to do that is to impose term ry more dependent upon the encourage existing members President Donald Trump’s limits - of, say, 18 years.” political branches, encour- to use their vote to make with the court, said the ACA’s other provisions cannot be nomination of Judge Amy Opinion editors at the Boston aging even more political themselves more attractive separated from the individual mandate and that “it neces- Coney Barrett to replace Globe agreed, arguing that meddling by those branches for a post-court world - nei- sarily follows that the rest of the ACA must also fall.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “democracy would be better and ultimately risking that ther outcome suitable for a on the U.S. Supreme Court served by a High Court that the court will decide cases real federal court. In 2010, according to a report published earlier this year has ignited an expected, yet politically - that is, with one is reinvigorated and renewed Although the bare-knuckle by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 13.1% of white Ameri- unfortunate, conflagration more frequently.” eye on the merits and the brawls that we call Supreme cans lacked health insurance, the lowest rate of any ra- on the left. Dozens of skirmishes and other eye on who may be With few procedural le- minor battles scheduled reg- leaving and joining the court Court confirmations have cial or ethnic group. Asian Americans were next lowest at vers to pull and little chance ularly will save democracy? in the next term. become at best tiresome po- 16.7%. The uninsured rate for Black Americans hovered of blocking Barrett’s confir- In fact, judicial term limits Judicial term limits will litical theater and at worst just under 20%, while nearly one-third of Latinx and In- will likely heighten concerns make the high court more unfair trials by a kangaroo mation, the radical left wing of the Democratic Party of an over-politicized, all- powerful and more political, court, the fights arise rela- digenous people lacked insurance. has threatened to “pack the powerful court. And a “rein- not less. They will increase tively rarely and last only ‘Those numbers dropped dramatically for all groups after court,” if given the chance, vigorated” court is not what the likelihood that justices a few weeks. Making such the ACA took effect, and the racial gaps narrowed substan- by increasing the number of the country wants or needs. may rule according to their appointments regularly and sitting justices. Both sides of the politi- own personal or political on a predetermined, bian- tially. By 2016, the uninsured rate for Latinx had plunged Most Americans, regard- cal aisle already complain ambitions, rather than as nual schedule will only call more than 13 percentage points, while the rate for Black less of political party, recoil that the Supreme Court too dispassionate jurists with no more attention to the court and Asian Americans dropped by nearly half. at that idea, which is why often acts like a super-leg- proverbial dog in the fight. moreoften, not less, and will Joe Biden and Kamala Har- islature that often overturns Ambition seeks more power. make the inevitable polit Distressingly, those gains pretty much stopped after the tis refuse to answer direct policy choices best left to the Dispassion typically does cal fisticuffs virtually never- Trump administration began chipping away at the ACA questions on the subject. people and their elected rep- not. - for example, by cutting funding and outreach for enroll- Now their handmaids in the resentatives. As Justice An- Hamilton recognized that ending, as one side or the media and on Capitol Hill tonin Scalia once lamented, permanent tenure acknowl- other will always be prepar- ment, Tossing out the ACA completely would obliterate have recently trotted out the court already behaves edges the complexity of the ing for a preordained confir- coverage for millions of Americans, in the middle of a another misguided proposal like an “ad hoc nullification law in a free society. Few mation fight. pandemic. that they hope will be more machine,” striking down people, he rightly believed, Term limits for the Su- popular - term limits for Su- laws as if on political whim. will have the knowledge and preme Court ultimately COVID-19 has already left some 8 million Americans preme Court justices. Alexander Hamilton ex- integrity necessary to judge threaten the independence with a preexisting condition - making it nearly impossible Advocates for judicial plained that by making the the law, so those deemed of the judiciary, risk a more for them to get affordable health insurance without the term limits argue that such tenure of federal judges per- up to the intellectual and powerful, more political, limits will reduce the rancor manent and not temporary, moral task should be te- more ambitious court than ACA’s protections. During her confirmation hearing, Bar- and bitterness of Supreme the Constitution ensures that tained rather than episodi- we already have, and will rett tried to talk her way around the preexisting conditions Court appointments. But the the court’s makeup will not cally replaced. Term limits likely make the problems issue in a way that did not inspire trust. opposite is more likely. be changed according to the undermine this effort. As that they seek to solve even The Washington Post political interests or whims Hamilton explained, justices worse. Barrett disingenuously claimed that the issue before the opinion editors declared, of another branch of govern- preparing for their post-ju- Horace Cooper is a senior court was “not a challenge to preexisting conditions cover- “Judicial term limits are the ment. This was an essential dicial positions may find it fellow with the National best way to avoid all-out war part of the delicate balance hard to resist the temptation of power divided among the to use today’s seat on the Center for Public Policy Re- age or to the lifetime maximum relief remote cap.” In fact, over the Supreme Court,” by as Francisco made clear, it is exactly that. “lower(ing) the stakes of any three federal branches, and bench for tomorrow’s per- search and author of “How But those COVID-19 infections are disproportionately one Supreme Court pick, so designed to keep the court sonal advantage. Trump is Making Black hitting communities of color. In August, the CDC reported the (political) parties are not from becoming a political Aregular confirmation cy- America Great Again.” He tempted to resort to all-out branch itself. cle will likely lead to more wrote this for InsideSources. that the COVID-19 case rate for Black Americans was 2.6 war every time a justice re- Removing that essential individuals “campaigning” com. times higher than for whites, while for Latinx and Indig- enous Americans it was 2.8 times higher. That’s millions of people who are potentially about to have their health care safety net taken away. Have a letter to the editor For Americans of color, Amy Coney Barrett is not just another judicial nominee, but a direct and potentially le- to share: thal threat. Let your senators know what you think by call- ing the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Kelsey Lyles is health equity program manager at The Send your letter to the editor to Greenlining Institute, a California-based nonprofit group [email protected] that works to “advance economic opportunity and em- powerment for people of color.”