In 1996, term limits required 52 state legislators to leave office. Last year, more than 200 were forced to retire from statehouses across the country. Along with the record turnover came a record number of newcomers with little or no political experience. Opponents of term limits argue that such inexperience will hurt voters, as rookie legislators find it hard to navigate the bureaucracy. They say limits force out well-regarded politicians who have formed strong ties with their constituents and erode democracy by taking away voters' rights to choose their representative.
Proponents see career politicians as the greater threat.
They say careerists are so intent to stay in office that they are more likely to betray their constituents and bow to corruption. Proponents say they hope term limits will encourage newcomers to take risks and push for ethics reform. In March 1998, the Supreme Court let stand term limits for state lawmakers, permitting California, which has some of the country's strictest tenure restrictions, to continue enforcing them. Some states have even tried to limit the terms of their members of Congress. In 1995, however, the Supreme Court ruled that letting states establish such restrictions would violate the Constitution and weaken Congress's national character.