Time for a Federal old age and tenure of office Constitutional Amendment.
As I promised in the other thread, I have expanded my previous proposal to cover all three branches of government.
The amendment deals both with age limits and service limits. It also adds MINIMUM ages for service in the judiciary, similar to the minimums that already exist for service as President and service in Congress.
It also provides a non-partisan manner to formally and efficiently remove Judges, either for misconduct or for disability.
Amendment ???
Section 1. No person shall be eligible for election to the Office of President or Vice President of the United States if, prior to the end of the Presidential term being sought, such person shall attain to the age of sixty five years.
Section 2. No person otherwise eligible to secede to the Office of President of the United States shall do so if, prior to the end of the current Presidential term, such person shall attain to the age of sixty five years.
Section 3. This amendment shall have no effect during the duration of the Presidential term in which it was ratified and proclaimed, nor shall it have effect during the duration of a Presidential term commencing less than eighteen months following its ratification and proclamation.
Section 4. No person shall be eligible for election to either House of Congress, or appointment to the Senate, if such person shall attain to the age of seventy years prior to the end of the term sought.
Section 5. The term of a United States Senator shall be four years, staggered so that each State shall elect a Senator at every general election. The Senate shall, by resolution, provide for the this section to take effect, but this section shall have full effect no later than the commencement of the third Congress following the ratification and proclamation of this article of amendment.
Section 6. No person shall serve as a Senator or Representative for more than eight years in any period of sixteen years.
Section 7. No person shall serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who shall have attained to the age of seventy years. However, if the person’s birthday shall fall on and from the first day of October until the thirtieth day of June subsequent, such person shall be permitted to remain on the Supreme Court until the termination of the current term of the court.
Section 8. All persons retired from the Supreme Court of the United States under the previous section shall be deemed to hold the office of United States Circuit Judge at large. Such persons shall be eligible to serve by designation on any court established under Article III of the Constitution. Such persons shall retain the salary of a Supreme Court Justice for the remainder of their lives.
Section 9. No person shall serve in active status as a Judge under Article III of the Constitution who shall have attained to the age of eighty years, but may continue to serve in senior status as provided by law and the following section of this article of amendment.
Section 10. There shall be established a Commission on Judicial Misconduct and Disability to consist of twenty one members, seven to be appointed by the President, seven to be appointed by the Supreme Court, four to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and three to be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate. Each member shall serve a four year term, removable only for just cause by the appointing authority. The Commission shall have the authority to investigate all complaints of judicial misconduct and disability and shall have full authority to send for persons and papers The Commission shall have the authority to subpoena and question any Judge of the United States and shall have the authority, in cases of complaints of disability, to require the Judge to submit to medical examination and to have such access to the Judge’s medical records as is necessary to evaluate any complaint, any law of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. If fifteen members of the Commission shall concur in the opinion that a Judge is guilty of misconduct, they may sanction a Judge up to but not exceeding a paid suspension of one year. In extraordinary cases, the Commission may serve Articles of Impeachment upon the Judge and shall be authorized to demand the Senate proceed to trial on such impeachments and shall be authorized to act as their own managers on such impeachments. This section shall not be construed to either deny or impair the House of Representatives power of impeachment. However, when a Judge other than a Justice of the Supreme Court is impeached, the Commission may instead demand an impeachment trial before the Supreme Court of the United States. Guilty votes of two thirds of the total number of Justices shall be necessary for conviction and removal from office. If fifteen members of the Commission concur that a Judge suffers from a disability sufficient to conclude that the Judge is not competent to carry out the duties of his office, the Commission may involuntarily and immediately retire said Judge on full salary during the remainder of his life as provided by law.
Section 11. No person shall be appointed to any court established under Article III of the Constitution who has not attained to the age of forty years. No person shall be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States who has not attained to the age of fifty five years and who has not previously served at least five years on a lower Article III court.