The depoliticization of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) could start with the resignation methods of its members. Public resignations of justices during a preferred party’s presidency are strongly clouded with political motivation overtones. One way the justices could ensure they started to remove political bias from the process is to resign utilizing the following steps:
- make the public announcement prior to any major party primary debates (approximately 18-24 months before the national presidential election) and
- announce the resignation effective the day after the next presidential inauguration.
These steps would provide the resignation prior to knowing which party’s candidates were favored to win the next election. This would also give the power back to the people as they decide the next election and they would then be able to strongly support the nomination of the next supreme court justice. These measures would prevent justices from even the slightest perception of a politically motivated resignation.
-Alexander Keely