Author: Chris Walker
Source: truthout
Publication Date: October 20, 2023 (schwartzreport.net)
Link: Democrats Propose 18-Year Term Limit for Supreme Court Justices in Most Cases
I don’t know how much more obvious it could become that as a result of the last Republican appointments during the Trump administration that something has gone seriously awry with the Supreme Court. Finally, it looks like the Senate Democrats are willing to take this on. Whether this is finally what happens, to me, is less important than that the problems of the court are finally being seriously considered.
Credit: Tom Brenner / The Washington Post / Getty
A group of Democratic senators has introduced legislation that would drastically alter how often Supreme Court justices are chosen, and limit the cases justices can hear after a certain time on the bench.
The new legislation, sponsored by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), and Alex Padilla (D-California), is called the Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act. A number of Democratic senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. It has not yet been endorsed by any Republicans.
The bill would require new appointments to the Supreme Court every two years, as opposed to the current process that only requires new appointments when there is a vacancy on the nine-member bench. Justices would still serve lifetime appointments, but the bill would limit the kind of cases a member of the Court can take part in after 18 years.
The Supreme Court hears two different types of cases: those that originate from […]
