As a physician, I am well aware of the health risks of aging, but also very aware that no one is guaranteed to live a long and healthy life.
If it is legitimate to consider the age of our elected officials, (e.g. President Joe Biden), we should reconsider the numerous lifetime appointments for federal justices. There are 870 federal judges with lifetime appointments in our country, including the nine on our Supreme Court. These are unelected positions with extreme influence upon our national life.
At the time the Constitution was written the average life expectancy was about 35 years. If you were lucky enough to make it to 50, you might live another 20 years, therefore a lifetime appointment was much different in Colonial America than it is today.
Isn’t it time we updated our Constitution?
William Phillips, Auburn
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