Supreme Court justices should be chosen via public election

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As we all know by now, President Donald Trump found someone to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who on July 31, 2018, stepped down after more than 30 years on the United States Supreme Court.

As college students, we tend to forget how much this affects us. But this Supreme Court nomination and possible confirmation has lasting ramifications: This is a lifetime appointment and the justices who sit in this high court set national precedents that reach to every corner of the country. 

Trump chose Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacant seat left by Justice Kennedy but Kavanaugh is yet to be confirmed to the Supreme Court due to pending sexual assault allegations brought forward initially by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University. She testified last week before the Senate, claiming that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s.

We’ve seen cases like this before and both sides of the Kavanaugh-Ford issue are claiming that the opposing political party is using people to fit an agenda. If political parties cannot be left out of this solemn office, is it really such a good idea to leave the appointment of Supreme Court justices entirely to Congress and the president of the United States? 

Our senators and representatives of Congress are elected by the people of the United States. The president is also elected by the people of the United States. Why is the Supreme Court different?  

The Founding Fathers created the branches of government to evenly distribute power. They did it to ensure that one branch would not become too powerful. But if a president can confirm people into life-long appointments in high places of power with clear partisanship, these checks and balances are hardly in effect.

Want to know who else appointed people he liked to positions of great power to fit his agenda? Adolf Hitler. Hitler appointed officers to systematically kill thousands of Jewish German citizens. A period of police brutality and unaccountability followed as police were loyal not to humanity but to one person.

If we could elect our own Supreme Court justices, we the people could appoint justices who are not necessarily liberal judges, but sympathize with everyone, no matter if they are liberal or conservative. 

We need government officials who will make choices that would benefit the American people instead of lining their own pockets or fitting a party agenda. 

Fellow Americans, we have the power. Let’s stand up and change the state of our country. We can start by demanding that we have a say in the choosing of Supreme Court justices.