Should judges be democratically elected?

[politicallefty]

No, absolutely not. I do not at all believe electing judges can be compatible with a Constitution that guarantees basic fundamental rights. I can think of very few ideas more idiotic than the idea of an elected judiciary.

[politicallefty]

There really is no point in having a written Constitution that protects rights and liberties when those that are the final arbiter of such rights and liberties are subject to the will of the majority.

I do, however, see merits in having judicial term limits. For the Supreme Court, with the current nine Justice configuration (which should probably be cemented as well), an 18 year term limit would probably work quite well. With that in place, there would be a Justice up every two years. We would know up front that a President would be guaranteed two Supreme Court nominations and four if he/she were reelected.

(For those on the right that all of a sudden want to radically change the judiciary, I'd say you should be careful what you wish for. I have full confidence in the American people that Justice Ginsburg would have no problem with any sort of vote, whether it be retention or competition. However, I think it's quite likely that Justice Thomas would find rather huge difficulties in retaining his seat on the Court.)