On Tuesday, President Joe Biden proposed three reforms in an effort to increase accountability and public trust in the Supreme Court..The proposal contains an eighteen-year term limit for Supreme Court Justices, a constitutional amendment restraining Presidential immunity, and a binding code of conduct for the Court..Presidential Immunity.Biden's proposal first calls for a constitutional amendment to clarify that "no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office." This comes in the aftermath of Trump vs. The United States, a landmark decision that gives full immunity for any "official acts" conducted by a President of the United States..On Wednesday, Congressman Joseph Morelle (D-NY) introduced such an amendment. If passed, the 28th Amendment would state that "no officer of the United States, including the President and the Vice President, or a Senator or Representative in Congress, shall be immune from criminal prosecution for any violation of otherwise valid Federal law, nor for any violation of State law unless the alleged criminal act was authorized by valid Federal law.".Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday introduced the No Kings Act, which would reverse the Trump vs. The United States verdict, as well as grant the power to determine "to whom federal criminal laws may be applied" to Congress, instead of the Supreme Court..Term Limits.Biden's term limit proposal limits the tenure of a Justice to 18 years, while staggering Justice nominations to every two years to ensure that all Presidential administrations appoint the same amount of Justices per term. The current system simply allows the President to nominate a replacement any time a Justice leaves office, usually either by resigning or passing away. This has led to random inequalities like Trump appointing three Justices and Biden only appointing one..The issue of Supreme Court term limits has been popular since at least 2014, when 74 percent of Americans supported an 18-year limit. Over the last decade, public support for SCOTUS term limits has remained at least a two-thirds supermajority. The popularity of this policy is largely due to public dissatisfaction with the Court, as SCOTUS approval ratings have consistently been under 50 percent since 2010..Such a proposal is at odds with Article III of the Constitution, which states that a Justice is entitled to a lifetime tenure so long as they maintain "good behavior." As a result, a term limit on Justices would require a Constitutional amendment. Article V of the Constitution lays out this process and gives multiple routes for amending the Constitution. The route available to the federal government requires at least a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Once a federal consensus is reached, the amendment goes to the state legislatures for review. If at least three-fourths of the states agree, the amendment is officially ratified. The last amendment to the constitution was ratified in 1992 after more than 200 years of official deliberation..Code of Conduct.The proposal advocates for a legally binding, enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices. Specifically, it would require Justices to "disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.".Last December, the Supreme Court on its own adopted its first-ever code of ethics, requiring Justices to uphold the integrity and independence of the Court, avoid impropriety, perform their duties fairly and diligently, and refrain from political activism and activity. However, this code is relatively vague and has no actual enforcement mechanism. With a congressional bill, the Supreme Court would be held accountable to its rules by an independent actor; Congress.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden proposed three reforms in an effort to increase accountability and public trust in the Supreme Court..The proposal contains an eighteen-year term limit for Supreme Court Justices, a constitutional amendment restraining Presidential immunity, and a binding code of conduct for the Court..Presidential Immunity.Biden's proposal first calls for a constitutional amendment to clarify that "no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office." This comes in the aftermath of Trump vs. The United States, a landmark decision that gives full immunity for any "official acts" conducted by a President of the United States..On Wednesday, Congressman Joseph Morelle (D-NY) introduced such an amendment. If passed, the 28th Amendment would state that "no officer of the United States, including the President and the Vice President, or a Senator or Representative in Congress, shall be immune from criminal prosecution for any violation of otherwise valid Federal law, nor for any violation of State law unless the alleged criminal act was authorized by valid Federal law.".Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday introduced the No Kings Act, which would reverse the Trump vs. The United States verdict, as well as grant the power to determine "to whom federal criminal laws may be applied" to Congress, instead of the Supreme Court..Term Limits.Biden's term limit proposal limits the tenure of a Justice to 18 years, while staggering Justice nominations to every two years to ensure that all Presidential administrations appoint the same amount of Justices per term. The current system simply allows the President to nominate a replacement any time a Justice leaves office, usually either by resigning or passing away. This has led to random inequalities like Trump appointing three Justices and Biden only appointing one..The issue of Supreme Court term limits has been popular since at least 2014, when 74 percent of Americans supported an 18-year limit. Over the last decade, public support for SCOTUS term limits has remained at least a two-thirds supermajority. The popularity of this policy is largely due to public dissatisfaction with the Court, as SCOTUS approval ratings have consistently been under 50 percent since 2010..Such a proposal is at odds with Article III of the Constitution, which states that a Justice is entitled to a lifetime tenure so long as they maintain "good behavior." As a result, a term limit on Justices would require a Constitutional amendment. Article V of the Constitution lays out this process and gives multiple routes for amending the Constitution. The route available to the federal government requires at least a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Once a federal consensus is reached, the amendment goes to the state legislatures for review. If at least three-fourths of the states agree, the amendment is officially ratified. The last amendment to the constitution was ratified in 1992 after more than 200 years of official deliberation..Code of Conduct.The proposal advocates for a legally binding, enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices. Specifically, it would require Justices to "disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.".Last December, the Supreme Court on its own adopted its first-ever code of ethics, requiring Justices to uphold the integrity and independence of the Court, avoid impropriety, perform their duties fairly and diligently, and refrain from political activism and activity. However, this code is relatively vague and has no actual enforcement mechanism. With a congressional bill, the Supreme Court would be held accountable to its rules by an independent actor; Congress.
