Former Florida Judge Backs Supreme Court Changes

Term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices would not reduce judicial independence and could enhance accountability, according to Barbara J. Pariente, former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

In an opinion piece for the Brennan Center for Justice published on Tuesday, Pariente wrote that lifetime appointments may lead to a lack of accountability, as they were initially intended by the country’s founders to ensure independence when life expectancy was much lower.

She says that Florida’s system, which includes mandatory retirement ages, regular retention votes, judicial conduct codes, financial disclosure requirements and possible disciplinary actions, contributes to judicial independence.

Pariente believes that such mechanisms are more effective in maintaining impartiality than lifetime appointments without genuine accountability.

“I take great pride in my judicial career and the hundreds of opinions I authored. I always understood my role was to render fair decisions uninfluenced by popular opinion or political pressure,” she wrote for the Brennan Center. “I spoke extensively to student groups and civic groups on the importance of judicial independence—that judges were not ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ or pro-death penalty or anti-death penalty but, rather, take an oath to be impartial.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, facing mounting pressure over accusations of ethics violations, primarily aimed at Justice Clarence Thomas and fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito, issued its first formal code of conduct in November 2023. The code, however, was immediately met with criticism for lacking any concrete means of enforcement, leaving many to question its practical influence on the justices’ behavior.

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