President also says presidential immunity for crimes should be removed and ethics rules for justices should be stricter
Joe Biden has called for a series of reforms to the US Supreme Court, including the introduction of term limits for justices and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
In an op-ed published on Monday morning, the president said justices should be limited to a maximum of 18 years’ service on the court rather than the current lifetime appointment, and also said ethics rules should be strengthened to regulate justices’ behavior.
The call for reform comes after the supreme court ruled in early July that former presidents have some degree of immunity from prosecution, a decision that served as a major victory for Donald Trump amid his legal travails.
“This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Biden wrote.
Yet people get mad at him for constantly trying to fight to relieve student loan debt “because clearly it won’t pass.” You can’t make everyone happy. I personally prefer fights that can at least move the ball. A clearly doomed attempt at an amendment would only set things back.
It took ~15 years for the democrats to get a crack at healthcare again because of the damage the right wrought attacking Hillary Clinton’s efforts in the 90’s. And even with overwhelming dominance of the government they barely passed a very diluted bill that basically cost Obama the rest of his term and his second one. You have to think strategically sometimes. Burning political capital on a clearly doomed effort is not smart.
There was no path to victory for an amendment limiting justices’s terms in 2020. Especially not with COVID going on.
I’m not mad at him for that. I’m mad at him for not pushing on climate change, or income inequality, or corporate real estate monopolies, or any number of other issues on which Biden and the Democrats have been slow walking half measure platitudes.
Then why did we waste time discussing SCOTUS for several lengthy comments as if you cared about it? It was the context of the post and this thread.
Later dude
Because that’s not the entire list of available options. It’s not like the resolute desk has a box with two buttons, one labeled “Constitutional amendment to overhaul the SCOTUS,” and the other is “sit on your own thumb and spin for three years.” There have been many opportunities for Biden to step up and lead, and he hasn’t, because he ain’t that guy. He’s not a leader. He was in the good chair at the right time, so the DNC decided he was the guy they wanted to take on Trump. I’m happy Trump lost to Biden, and I desperately want Harris to win. But neither of them are progressive enough to save the world or America from the looming catastrophes.
The post and thread is about term limits on SCOTUS.
It’s about judicial reform. There are a lot of options besides term limits.