Since Biden no longer is campaigning for office, and has about 6 months left in his term, one might wonder what he will do in his remaining time. This actually ought to be normal — it’s weird that the leader of our country typically seems to spend about two years out of four focused on re-election, rather than doing their job. At least we can say that Biden is going out with an ambitious goal.
President Biden endorsed sweeping changes to the Supreme Court on Monday, calling for 18-year term limits for the justices and a binding, enforceable ethics code for the high court.
He is also pushing for a constitutional amendment that would prohibit blanket immunity for presidents, a rebuke of the Supreme Court after it ruled this month that former president Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for official acts.
I approve, although I might favor even shorter term limits. These are essential changes, because the judiciary is totally broken right now (I’d argue that the electoral college is even more broken, and that the Senate is an archaic relic, but let’s fix one thing at a time.) However, let’s get real: Joe Biden is not going to achieve his goals.
The calls, however, are largely aspirational at this stage given the long odds they face in implementation. Term limits and an ethics code are subject to congressional approval, and the Republican-controlled House is unlikely to support either. Both proposals also require 60 votes to pass the Senate, and Democrats only hold 51 seats in the upper chamber. Passing a constitutional amendment requires clearing even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or via a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.
But that’s OK. Maybe the old man will prepare the way, get everyone used to the idea that the Supreme Court is not inviolable, and maybe scare a few justices into cleaning up their act.
I’m not confident that last bit will happen.
Since The Supremely Deplorable Court (Lawless John, StripSearch, Token, Boof, Coathanger, and Squi) have, with the prez immunity decision, signed their own death-warrants, Biden should task SEAL teams one through six to dispose of them.
Then he can resign, before he’s impeached.
It’s almost as if our government is working exactly as it was intended by our the obscenely-rich, slave-owning, tax-dodgers who started it: Benefit the white upper-class while hiding behind a facade of enlightened democracy.
I must say that I hope the UK supreme court remains able and willing to rebuke our politicians to account regardless of party.
But as the great E L Wisty put it
“And what is more, being a miner, as soon as you are too old and
tired and sick and stupid to do the job properly, you have to go. Well,
the very opposite applies with the judges. So all in all I’d rather have
been a judge than a miner.”
12year term limit is sufficient. None of these recommendations will happen soon but the conversation has been started by the President. Have to hope for a Blue Sweep of Legislative and Presidential Braches in November. If Trump and his many pollical people go down in flames, which I believe is possible providing the Democrats play their cards correctly, at least some of the Supreme Court changes may be feasible. Democrats have the advantage right now but playing their cards correctly is a long shot.
Why only act now on SCOTUS rather than doing this on day one of your term Joe Biden?
Good but so late and so little and so much justice has already been already denied by being too much delayed.
Also why is Alito and Gini Thomas and her utterly corrupt husband not in jail by now on charges of sedition, supporting domestic terrorism / enemies, corruption, Perverting the course of Justice, Contempt of Congress, etc?
The Repubs blocking everything as the election looms? Another nail in their coffin I hope.
“I approve, although I might favor even shorter term limits.”
You’re not thinking this through, 18 years with 9 justices means 1 new justice every 2 years. This means that a 2 term president would appoint 4 justices. Even this limit is risky.
I think judicial reform needs to go beyond the Supremes because some of the outlandish rulings about Trump have been in lower courts. Some of those decisions emphasize how politicized the judicial system has become. And sure, less than 18 years is good. But, it’s just a pipe dream unless the Dems get a super majority.
This is performance theater, not that it isn’t a good idea.
But he doesn’t need to do that.
We already know that what the Supreme Court has done, they can also undo. The last example was Roe versus Wade.
Stare decisis, the rule of precedent is dead and buried in an unmarked grave in John Roberts back yard.
A new Supreme court with a different ideological makeup could easily reverse that decision.
The point of Biden talking big is so that we can be talking big without burdening Harris with the backlash. So long as Biden was running, he had to talk promises that could be achieved. The result of the way the media works is that big discussions really can’t happen because everybody focuses on what can be delivered NOW. Kinda like how Wall Street investors can’t really look long-term because they’re always reacting to the quarterlies. The system this country created is very short-term oriented.
18 year term limit works well with the SCC. Of course, Canada has 9 justices on the court. If the US goes the route of increasing the number of justices to 13 to match the number of circuits (as has been discussed repeatedly for many decades, even if only among particularly wonky weirdos — until lately) then a 13 year term limit would be best, I think. Replacing more than 1 justice per year is a big ask for a congress that struggles to get anything done.
The 60- vote threshold is a custom not something regulated by the constitution. Fuck this. The moment the Drms get a majority in both chambers they should ram through the changes.
Vae victis.
I want each 18-year term starting on a different odd-numbered year. The most senior term has the chief justice, even if he just got appointed to fill a vacant term.
Even though this is something that Biden believes in, based on some of the other battles he has fought for, I’m guessing that Harris’ campaign team might have had some input. The favourability of the US Supreme Court is, if I’m not mistaken, at an all-time low among Americans. How many people who are not professionally MAGA Republicans are going to say anything about this on the campaign trail? How many Republicans will vote for “the Supreme Court is perfect exactly as it is” and “Biden and Harris should be free to do whatever they want as president”?
Spoiler: more nuclear brinkmanship and more genocide.
@ ^ beholder : Are you going to answer my questions for you here :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/07/22/nosedive-right-into-the-sewer/#comment-2228799
at last or keep hiding and showing you are just another bad faith cowardly Trumpist troll? Your failure to answer and respond has already been noted. (Ditto The Vicar of Trumpian Accelerationism.)
FYI Trump will be vastly worse than Biden in every respect including on Gaza.We all know this. Trump would genocide Ukraine too. Is that something you support?
@11. acroyear : Yes, that makes sense.
@birgerjohansson : “”The moment the Drms get a majority in both chambers they should ram through the changes.
Vae victis.”
Abso-fucking0-lutelty! The Repugs have shown a contempt for political customs, conventions, norms and basic decency. They have shown theycannot be trusted to keep them and have played the democratic party for suckers. Its lobg overdue that the democratic party showed no quarter to them and went in far harder against them.
@ 10. raven : “A new Supreme court with a different ideological makeup could easily reverse that decision.
Yes but its going to take a while to get a new SCOTUS in place unless the “Justices” that are criminal traitors (Alito, Thomas at least) and just plain criminals (Kavanaugh, Thomas) as well as those who got their positions by deceit and Contempt of Congress (Handmaid Amy Comey OfBarrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh at least) are removed ASAP. Which should happen anyhow. Impeach them and arrest them please.
It also doesn’t hurt to do both and make it clear that the Trump treason SCOTUS was utterly illegitimate and its decisions should all be considered null and void.
@17
StevoR, the points you bring up just aren’t that interesting and they make no sense. Sorry, but not sorry.
If I want to have a pointless conversation with something that will never change its talking points, never evaluate a new situation, and never change its mind, I can save myself the trouble and just yell at MSNBC hosts on my TV.
@15
the idea that any republican no matter how moderate would think to allow a Democratic POTUS do anything they would want to be is utterly laughable
That idea is completely ahistorical.
@19. beholder : I am a person NOT a “something” or “it” ( dehumanising much douchebag?) and the rest of your bullshit there is wrong as well. You don’t answer my questions because you can’t as they demolish your nonsense. The one who refuses to change their mind and re-evaluate views based on new situations – or simple logical comparisons here – is you.
I also note that you claimed my points were “not intresting”rather than untrue. Guess the truth doesn’t matter to you does it?
PS. beholder :
1) Do you support Trump?
2) Do you support Putin?
3) Out of the two actual choices for holding political power in the USA do you prefer the Democratic party or the Republican party?
Will you actually give an honest direct answer to these questions or do we need to draw our own conclusions from your refusal to answer because right now it looks like your implied answers here are that you support Trump, Putin and the Repugs over the Democratic party. Oh and also that no, you will continue to refuse to provide honest answers here making you a bad faith troll. Am I wrong and if so why?
(My answers to the above are no, no and the Democratic party obvs.)
@20
That’s pretty much my point. Biden is arguing that his office shouldn’t have full criminal immunity, and with Trump’s chances of getting back in for 2024 appearing to be increasingly small, that argument would likely extend to Harris’ presidency as well. Any Republican arguing against Biden’s expressed interest for prosecution of criminal acts by a sitting president, would be arguing for criminal immunity of President Biden, as well as possibly President Harris.
They’d be arguing against the idea of prosecuting Biden, despite the fact that they’ve spent most of their time in office calling for Biden’s prosecution, because Biden said that they’d be right to prosecute him if he broke the law. And some of these MAGA politicians are flea-brained enough to loudly criticize Biden’s call for criminal prosecution of criminal acts simply because it’s Biden saying it. It’s not like they haven’t proven themselves to be a cornucopia of stupid already.
[StevoR, kudos. You are not aggressive, but you are assertive]
Y’know, I really wish Biden would spend his last months dealing with VOTING RIGHTS.
@ ^ Raging Bee : Yes – that too as well. Biden can and no doubt will do more than just one thing and both SCOTUS & Voting rights are vital areas that urgently need to be addressed.
@ #19. beholder : I notice you have replied here :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/07/06/infinite-thread-xxxii/comment-page-3/#comment-2230028
Thx. Would’ve been good if you’d said that you were replying on that Infinite Thread here but anyhow. I will respond there later.
beholder from the thread cited @26: “[Both US political parties] are indistinguishably bad on issues I care about…”
If you can’t (or won’t) distinguish between them, then you can’t pretend you care about those issues.
StevoR@21: a) Calling him a douchebag is an insult to douchebags, feminine hygiene products that have done nothing to deserve such harsh treatment. And b) it may be giving beholder too much credit: your typical feminine hygiene product has succeeded in getting intimate with a vagina other than its mother’s. :)
Mindless things cannot be insulted.
(duh)
Well, duh.
Any credit is too much,
(‘beholder’ is but a driveby dropper of shite)
@13, birgerjohansson,
There are a couple points to make here.
If the US Congress was just going to pass a law with these changes, then the US Congress would not need 60 votes in the Senate (and a majority in the House). However, that law could then be immediately struck down by the Supreme Court as violating the US Constitution which specifies that judges “shall hold their offices during good behavior” (Article III, Sec.1). This has been interpreted in the past to mean that there is no fixed term limit to the appointment of any federal judge, including those on the Supreme Court. I see no indication that the current court would violate precedent to uphold any mere act of congress over this interpretation of the US Constitution. (The Federalist Papers don’t help in any interpretation here either.)
The only way to put term limits on Supreme Court judges and make them stick is to amend the US Constitution. Even the Supreme Court cannot find an approved constitutional amendment unconstitutional.
That’s covered under Article V. To amend the US Constitution it requires a 2/3 majority of both senators and representatives. Once the US Congress approves the amendment, then 3/4 of the state legislatures need to ratify it. There is another method to amend the US Constitution, but that other method has never been used, would be far more difficult and dangerous, and would still require 3/4 of the state legislatures to ratify any changes.
So to term limit Supreme Court judges, 66 senators, 292 representatives, and 38 state legislatures are needed before it can become law.
Not impossible, it’s happened 17 times in the last 236 years. It’s not going to happen quickly though.
Of course, if 66 senators are willing to amend the Constitution, it is also possible that they might be willing to impeach certain members of the current Supreme Court for not engaging in “good behavior”. It only takes a majority of the representatives and 66 senators to remove a Supreme Court justice from their position. While a Supreme Court Justice has never been successfully impeached, earlier this month AOC introduced articles of impeachment for both Thomas and Alito. There is a first time for everything. After all, until very recently no former President had ever been convicted of a felony.