Thomas Jefferson said in his letters that giving this office a life term is a great mistake. But there you are, this is why. They cannot be held accountable for misinterpreting the Constitution.
Many of the founders espoused the view that the Supreme Court was not the sole arbitrator of all constitutional issues, and could not hold such power to make such irrevocable decisions. Thomas Jefferson famously made a political career of opposing the federal judiciary in rendering opinions as law. Realizing that the Supreme Court did not take up any of the appeals of those convicted under the Sedition Act, he drafted the Kentucky Resolution of 1798. Considering the development of the Marshall Court, he wrote that a general judiciary with the power to make such decisions as law was “dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.”[3] Jefferson wisely recognized the truth: “The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal” to operate in such a manner.
“Thomas Jefferson said in his letters that giving this office a life term is a great mistake. But there you are, this is why. They cannot be held accountable for misinterpreting the Constitution.”
The Constitution states that justices serve during good behavior, but they may be removed through impeachment.