An Associated Press poll published Monday found that six in 10 Americans think there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices – but in this case, the majority shouldn’t rule.

The Constitution mandates lifetime appointment for the justices for a reason. It takes years upon years of experience to be able to do the role of a justice. The Supreme Court is made up of experts on the law who are in charge of enforcing – and interpreting – the Constitution. We don’t need young-uns taking over and passing rulings that have the potential to change the Constitution.

America is a country where everyone is welcome and everyone has rights, regardless of how old they are. But forcing a justice into retirement at a certain age takes away that justice’s right to work – and enforces age discrimination. Individuals in other jobs cannot be hired or fired on the basis of age; justices shouldn’t be any different.

Just because someone is getting older doesn’t mean he or she is incompetent. All but one of the current justices is older than 65, with the oldest being 80. But not everyone over 65 is senile.

If the people of this country trust the justices to uphold the Constitution, the people also can trust them to step down if they don’t feel they hold the needed mental capacities to continue their duties.

Amending the Constitution to force justices to retire would imply that the United States supports the stereotype that the elderly can’t work.

Being older than 65 doesn’t mean a person has lost his or her sense of logic or that they are senile. Some people go senile at 60 and some at 85. A certain age at which a person’s judgment should be questioned simply cannot be determined.

The fathers of our Constitution decided on a lifetime contract for the justices because these justices earned their positions. Taking their jobs away, at any age, goes against the principals of the Founding Fathers’ decision.