Supreme Court TERM LIMITS?
(NewsBroadcast.com) – Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett all have one thing in common: they were all nominated by former President Donald Trump. Their appointments to the court gave it a decidedly conservative bent, and that, coupled with recent rulings on topics like gun control and abortion, angered Liberals. Now, they’re scrambling for a way to shift the balance.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is one of many who have suggested that conservative justices be removed by impeachment. Others of her party have expressed a desire to increase the number of justices and pack it with ones who share their political point of view.
Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), along with several other congresspeople, has another idea. They have introduced the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2022, intending to create a term limit plan for the jurists. Included in the plan would be an initial term of 18 years for justices, after which they would be “retired from regular active service.” They would retain the official position and compensation for life, but would not be called into service unless there were fewer than nine sitting members. It would also limit when presidents could nominate new justices to the first and third years of their terms.
According to the bill, current justices who have served more than 18 years would be “retired” as new judges are approved, with the longest serving first.
This #SCOTUS is increasingly facing a legitimacy crisis. 5 of the 6 conservative justices on the bench were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, and they are now racing to impose their out-of-touch agenda on the American people, who do not want it. pic.twitter.com/BJ6V2vfiDu
— Rep. Hank Johnson (@RepHankJohnson) July 26, 2022
While the amount of traction this new bill will gain going forward is unknown, lawmakers from both sides of the aisles have said over the years they would support a constitutional amendment to establish term limits. The key words here are “constitutional amendment,” because the founding document of the country has always been interpreted to give justices a lifelong appointment. Interestingly, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a 1983 memo when he was an aid in the Ronald Reagan administration that he personally believes such a measure would be appropriate.
What do you think?
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