When the Constitution was written down, humans and human judges only lived to age 37

[jodymarie aimee]

When the Constitution was written down, humans and human judges only lived to age 37....might be time for a change in term limits...as in 2018 most of us eke out a few years beyond 37.

[JHB]

1. What makes you say that?

where does that number come from?

Life expectancy numbers were lower because of the deaths from childhood diseases. For people who lived to adulthood and had enough wealth that they Could stay fed and didn't spend their days at backbreaking labor, they usually lived to ages more familiar to us.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Jefferson and Adams lived to 83 and 90, for example

Famously both dying on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration.

[The Genealogist]

12. This is correct

The infant and childhood mortality rates back then were high. If you made it out of childhood you had a good chance at living a long life.

[DetlefK]

2. Median Age? You do know that number is skewed because of high infant-mortality?

[jodymarie aimee]

3. quoting Lawrence O Donnell

last nite's show

[NutmegYankee]

5. Doesn't change the fact that such a statement is wrong.

Average life expectancy was low because of very high childhood mortality. If you lived past 10, you could expect to likely make it to the late 50s at least, with many still achieving old age.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Then O'Donnell was being an ass

If you want to think about how age affected adults in past times, look for a "life expectancy at age X" figure, not "life expectancy at birth". If it's about term limits on judges, then the relevant statistic would be something like "at 40", or whatever the youngest age you reasonably think they might start.

For instance, here is a table of how many more years a 21 year old English aristocrat could expect to live - in the 1700-45 period, it was another 43 years, ie to 64 (which is, I reckon, comparable to an American lawyer at the end of that century). https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T4DLK7zLxYMC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false . Someone who survived to 40 would have an expectancy beyond 64.

But if anyone really wants to make this kind of argument, they should look for the most relevant statistics possible.

[VOX]

4. John Adams, 91; Benjamin Franklin, 84; Thomas Jefferson, 83; James Madison, 83...

George Washington, 67, who succumbed to a throat infection. Although your correct, the average life expectancy c. 1776 was 36-37. The founding fathers had some good luck and good immune systems.

Back then, so many medical situations that could become fatal quickly are now controlled or eradicated today: smallpox, measles, diphtheria, strep throat, any bacterial infection, childbirth complications, various cancers, etc. All doctors could do was bleed their patients and fuss about some.

Not the best time to be alive.

[Oneironaut]

8. That's actually a myth, probably from misinterpreting average age of death.

People who weren’t killed by diseases, etc. could expect to live full lives. The numbers were skewed by infant mortality mostly, as well as deaths from diseases, etc.

[Captain Stern]

9. That's not right. If it was, they wouldn't have said you have to be 35 to be Pres. n/t

[Vinca]

10. Apparently, we're the only country without term limits for the high court.

It would make sense to have ten year terms, with 2 terms ending during any presidential term. It would avoid packing the court. The SCOTUS should be representative of all the people, not 30% of the people.

[onenote]

13. That's also wrong. In many countries, high court judges have life tenure.

For example, judges to the Supreme Court of the UK, judges to the French Courts of Cassation, the high courts in Italy, etc all have life tenure.

The procedures for getting appointed vary widely as do the powers of high court judges in other countries. The process by which a life tenured justice can be removed also vary, but there are no term limits in these and many other countries. (One exception: Israel, where judges must retire at age 70).

At the state level in the United States, a mandatory retirement age of 70 or 75 is not uncommon. However, retired judges often continue to sit on cases as the need arises. And a number of states with mandatory retirement ages for judges are considering raising or even eliminating those limits.

[Vinca]

15. I must have not been paying enough attention when an expert was on one of the news shows

talking about this. I remembered him saying what I wrote, but you obviously know what you're talking about.

[Jim__]

11. That's probably correct for life expectancy *at birth*

This chart is for England and Wales, but Europeans in North America should be comparable. And, yes, it looks like life expectancy at birth was around 37 then - but that's misleading:

[snowybirdie]

14. That age

is affected by the high numbers of infant deaths which brought down age statistics. Actually many lived into their 60s and 70s.

[onenote]

16. Two of the first nine Supreme Court Justices lived well into their 80s

and, on average, the first nine lived almost 70 years. These are folks appointed to the Court in around 1790-1791.