107 Iowa L. Rev. Online 117 (2022)

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Abstract

Federal judges’ discretionary power to resign creates a problem and an opportunity. The problem is that judges and justices can renege on their resignation decisions for capricious, manipulative, or partisan reasons. Yet that discretionary power to resign also points toward a new opportunity for reform: “opt-in term limits,” that is, term limits that are established through judges’ voluntary but binding resignation announcements.