Why are judges appointed for life?

Answer 1

In the United States, judges appointed to the Supreme Court are appointed for life. This could prove to be a problem as judges age, because there is the possibility that they may become senile. Additionally, judges who have served for many years may have stale opinions.

Answer 2

If a judge has the position for life (unless impeached), then once the judge goes senile, there is no way to get him off the bench. However, the pros of lifetime appointments heavily outweigh the cons, in my opinion.

Answer 3

The answer here refers to judgeship's in the United States. Some Judicial positions are appointed for life because the idea behind this is it allows them to make decisions without worrying about being reelected. These are normally high level judges. Also, some judgeship's have terms that expire and by being appointed for life, they have no fear of not being reappointed.

This "Judicial term for life" concept is most important in the highest court that exists in the USA, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is part of the checks and balances concept put together by the Founding Fathers. Cases that are reviewed by this court a most important ones. They normally deal with the constitutionality of a law that has been seen by the lower courts and now is referred to the Supreme Court. The Court has the authority not to review the decisions made by lower courts. However when it does take on a case to review, the review and the Court's decision can have a huge part in the way the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal Government operate.

Because of this great power to interpret laws regarding its impact on the US Constitution, the appointment to the Court process is carefully done. The US President puts forth a nomination and the Senate reviews the qualifications of the nominee in person and in public view. The reason is clear to have no term limits for those appointed. The judges can be impartial in their decisions and not worry about losing their jobs unless they conduct themselves in such an egregious manner that there is a process to remove a judge. That process is called impeachment.