<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
one thing i've never understood is why supreme court judges are given lifetime appointments.  i think that's silly.
<|assistant|>
In theory, giving Supreme Court judges lifetime appointments helps ensure consistent and objective judging from the nation's highest court. This eliminates the concern of judges being affected by election-year politics, or by popular opinion or the prevailing culture. In practice, however, some Supreme Court Justices have managed to serve for decades even though their rulings have been highly controversial or out of step with prevailing values. This makes some question the need for lifetime appointments in the first place.