 "US President Joe Biden has proposed to reform the Supreme Court (Photo: AP)")
Amid historic low confidence in the Supreme Court, US President Joe Biden has proposed a bold reform of the institution.
In a speech to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Biden on Monday highlighted that the Supreme Court has been weaponised by an “extreme and unchecked” conservative agenda of a court. He went on to outline the three steps that would be part of the reform: the imposition of term limit on Supreme Court judges, the repeal of presidential immunity, and the institution of a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics.
Biden further said, “On top of its extreme decisions, the court is mired in a crisis of ethics. These scandals involving the justices have caused public opinion to question the court’s fairness and independence that are essential to carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law.”
Currently, the Supreme Court has a 6:9 conservative majority — with three of the judges appointed by former US President Donald Trump. The judges have issued several controversial rulings in recent years that have boosted Trump’s far-right Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and have loosened the long-held social liberties in the United States.
In recent years, the Supreme Court has revoked the federal constitutional protection to abortion, loosened gun safety measures, and granted immunity to presidents. All of these rulings have been seen as partisan and have been severely contested.
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View AllBiden’s 3-point reform agenda for Supreme Court
Each of the item on Biden’s agenda for the Supreme Court seeks to undo specific rulings that the conservative bench has issued in recent years. Some of these rulings, such as the recent grant of immunity to presidents for actions in their official capacity, have generated widespread angst across the nation and has fuelled the fears that the court is no longer an impartial institution.
Firstly, Biden proposed term limits on Supreme Court judges. Under the current system, judges have a lifetime term. This gives them and the president who appoints them decades of influence over the nation’s judiciary.
Biden has proposed an 18-year term limit on a Supreme Court’s judge’s tenure. A fact sheet released by the White House said this would allow a president to appoint a new judge every two years.
Just like a president has term limits, Supreme Court judges should also have a limit, said Biden.
Secondly, Biden proposed a constitutional amendment that would undo the grant of immunity to presidents for official actions. He said that the ruling went against the founding principles of the United States and removed all checks and balances.
This comes in the wake of this month’s ruling in a case that Trump had filed. In the ruling, the court ruled that Trump and all presidents had immunity for all official actions. Trump had filed the case as he faces a slew of cases and remains the only president to be convicted.
Thirdly, Biden proposed the institution of a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics. The current code is voluntary.
The proposal is rooted in the series of scandals involving conservative judges Clarence Thomas and Samuel A Alito. While Thomas hid gifts and luxurious trips sponsored by a billionaire benefactor for years, Alito flew flags of January 6 insurrectionists at his residence.
‘We are not a nation of kings & dictators’
Forcefully rejecting the immunity granted by the Supreme Court to presidents, Biden said the decision went against the founding principles of the nation that every person is answerable to law irrespective of whoever they are. He United States and the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity does away with the principle.
Biden said, “I share the founders’ belief that the president must answer to the law. The president is accountable in the exercise of the great powers of the presidency. We are a nation of laws, not kings and dictators.”
Referring to the civil rights laws enacted decades ago, Biden said that what a president could do to such laws with the immunity.
“For all practical purposes, the court’s decision almost certainly means that the president can violate the oath, flout our laws and face no consequences. Folks, just imagine what a president could do trampling civil rights and liberties, given such immunity,” said Biden.
Even though Biden has proposed an ambitious reform, it is very hard to be implemented. It would need two-third of votes in the Congress and as the House of Representatives remains occupied by the Republicans, that is unlikely to happen. The alternative mechanism is equally unlikely. As an alternative, The New York Times noted that such constitutional amendments would need to pass at a convention called for by two-thirds of the states, followed by ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.