[anonsquared]

What has “gone wrong” such that, e.g., federal judges routinely feel free to legislate their ideals of social progress from the bench?

What has "gone wrong" is that there isn't any recourse for judges who are incompetent. In the real world your pay is based on your performance.

I keep hearing people squawk that judges should have a fixed term, say 10 years, so the incompetent ones can be pushed out. I have a better idea - base their pay, benefits, and retirement on their performance.

Take the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, for example. Three-quarters of all of their rulings are overturned. We should take away three-quarters of their pay, benefits, and retirement for the year they make the lousy rulings. That should give them plenty of incentive to make rulings based on the Constitution instead of their will.

[endthematrix]

HA! I've heard (and agree) that Congress-critters should have a $$$ figure in relation to what they voted to spend on. That way, come voting time, citizens can see the billions spent. Funny that Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative, but all the campaign literature show how much they have pillaged from the Treasury.

[StonyBurk]

Add if term limits for Judges -or performance based pay
are not agreeable-- might I suggest mandatory psych evals
by a panel of three competing psychologists to be affected
once any citizen notes variance with the clear language of the written Constitution.

[Bigun]

What has "gone wrong" is that there isn't any recourse for judges who are incompetent.

I would beg to differ. There IS Constitutional recourse but, up to now, no congress has displayed the fortitude to use it!