March 2: Why 70?

Why are Supreme Court justices forced to retire at the age of 70, when they are at the height of their judicial abilities?

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Why 70? Sir, – Regarding “Beinisch retires after 5 years as Supreme Court president” (February 29), why are Supreme Court justices forced to retire at the age of 70, when they are at the height of their judicial abilities, with years of rich experience and insights from sitting on the bench? In the US, justices on the top court are appointed for life to utilize the knowledge and maturity they have acquired over the years.
Some of the greatest judicial decisions have been handed down by justices over 70.
ELIEZER WHARTMAN Jerusalem
Sir, – How long will it take for someone to note the double standard involved in “understanding” Arab Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran’s refusal to sing Hatikva during a state ceremony at the President’s Residence, while not being able to understand religious soldiers who request being exempted from army ceremonies and programs where women sing? Let me be the first.
AVIGDOR BONCHEK Jerusalem
Waste of space
Sir, – Arieh O’Sullivan should be ashamed of himself for being sworn in to the Sons of Confederate Veterans (“An Israeli ‘redneck’ gets his confederacy stripes,” February 29).
What did the Confederate army fight to protect? Man’s inhumanity to man.
Southern slave owners treated human beings as animals (actually worse, because animals were not beaten by their owners the way slaves were).
Should the Post have written an article about this? I, for one, think not.
NACHUM CHERNOFSKY Bnei Brak
Suggested changes Sir, – Arye Carmon rightly points out that we should be extremely careful in making changes to our electoral system. However, he does not put forward any suggestions for change.
I would like to suggest: 1. Raise the election threshold to 5 percent or even 10%. This will eliminate one-issue parties.
2. Reduce the number of ministers to no more than that in the United States.
A country of seven million has no need for more national departments than does a country of over 300 million. This will save millions of shekels and let the smaller parties know they cannot blackmail a prime minister or potential prime minister to create jobs for them.
3. The order of MK candidates on each list should be chosen completely by party members, voting for 20 candidates by name. The one with the highest number of votes is the candidate for prime minister.
DAVID FEIGENBAUM Netanya
That’s what it is Sir, – I was struck by the video describing the recent brutal stoning attack on several cars on the Gush Etzion-Hebron road.
Two years ago my son was involved in a similar incident. Thank God, he and his passengers were unharmed, though the stone that hit our car left a gaping hole in the roof.
He notified the proper authorities and filed a police report, but we never found out whether the matter was investigated.
To our knowledge the perpetrators were never found. We have no reason to believe the police ever looked.
Rocks are lethal weapons, yet incidents of rock-throwing at cars are not taken seriously by the authorities until the worst happens. I call on the Israeli security forces to treat all incidents of stone-hurling at moving vehicles with the same seriousness they do a case of attempted murder, because that’s what it is.
ARI SOLOMONT Hashmonaim
CORRECTION: One of the laureates of this year’s Dan David Prize is Robert Conquest, and not George Conquest, as was incorrectly reported in “Dan David Foundation names 2012 prize laureates” (March 1). The Post regrets the error.