Few things spur more urgent calls for fundamental change in government institutions than when a major political party or ideological bloc feels it’s losing its grip on power. Those on the left are currently voicing heated cries for fundamental changes in the structure of the U.S. Supreme Court. (RELATED: Supreme Court Ruling Undermines Corporate Wokeness)
The reason is simple enough: The Court has overturned long-accepted precedents on items like abortion rights and affirmative action (despite the general popularity of such decisions with the public). While the left is out of step with the American public, that doesn’t diminish the need for Supreme Court reform.
There are a few big ideas: Term limits for Supreme Court justices. Expanding the number of justices (though none dare call it “court packing”) and new ethics rules to curb real and potential conflicts of interest.
The exceedingly cynical – and discredited – game of adding more justices in the hopes of diluting one group’s votes with another’s, is a non-starter. Even if such a scheme could get enough support to pass Congress, the president is against the idea. (RELATED: Is Joe Biden About To Once Again Defy The Supreme Court With Another Massive Power Grab?)
Term limits for justices? A much better fix that would take the drama, and political gamesmanship, out of Supreme Court nominations and vacancies. It’s also the most difficult to do. Currently, justices are appointed for a term of “good behavior,” which, in essence, is a lifetime appointment. Limiting a justice’s time on the bench to 12, 18 or however many years would require a constitutional amendment. Very tough to do – but not impossible. (RELATED: Supreme Court Justices Targets Of Assassination By Left-Wing Abortion Extremists: Alito)
As for ethics reform…the Court could do that on its own. And do it quickly. The longer the Court delays, however, the more it runs the risk of undermining its own standing.
Coupling stronger ethics rules with term limits would add some guardrails on Court behavior and practice – and perhaps curb the hubris that tends to infect long-serving justices. (RELATED: GOP Megadonor Paid Tuition Of Child Supreme Court Justice Raised ‘As A Son’)
Would such changes result in a Court that would embrace the left or the right’s vision of justice? Doubtful. Process reforms cannot change political or legal views. And as term limits in the states have clearly shown, they cannot overcome the larger ideological tides that move through and ultimately shape our institutions.
The only way for progressives to get the Court to rule their way, then, is exactly how conservatives got to where they are today: Win both the presidency and enough Senate seats to push through your party’s version of jurisprudence.
Until then, let’s work on those process reforms. They won’t turn the Court’s ideology – nor should they. But such reforms will help restore a semblance of balance between the Supreme Court, its co-equal branches of government and the long-term health of our republican form of government.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Comrade chairman Xi den can try and skirt decisions of the SCOTUS, but he should watch his step. Oh by the way yosef, stick your digital currency, which is just a tracking thing and more control. (Obamas idea)
The vast majority of these “Precedents” should have never been instituted in the first place, and the fact that it takes so long to overturn Bad Legislation/Policies is a Fundamental Flaw in our system.
The Final Arbiter on whether something is Constitutional or not lies with SCOTUS. That’s what the Founders set up, and it was a Lofty Goal. The problem with the system, is the amount of time it takes to make the determinations/decisions. In many cases, it takes decades before a Lawsuit arises, even when it was obviously flawed to begin with. Affirmative Action had a positive Goal in the beginning, that was to end using Race as , a factor in admissions and employment. The problem though was it grew quickly to establishing Quotas based on Race, and that in and of itself is Racist. We are all of Equal Value in the eyes of our creator, but that does not mean we all have Equal Abilities. Some will have scholastic aptitude and some won’t, and a large percentage of the population ends up somewhere in the middle. Frankly, I’m suspicious of anyone who benefitted from Affirmative Action, because I know they Advanced not on their Merit or Work, but just because of their skin color. Affirmative Action didn’t level the playing field, it lowered standards of achievement.
The Goal was lofty, but ended up pushing institutionalized Mediocrity.
As for SCOTUS, it’s Common Sense to want all the Justices to be Constitutionalists. Someone who only applies and uses the Constitution in making their decisions. Not Justices that try to Legislate From The Bench, like Sotomayer, Kagen and Brown-Jackson always do. Justices and Judges period, should be Apolitical. Relying solely on the Constitution, not a Political Party to guide their decisions. That, is the fundamental Flaw in our Judiciary System, and it’s also why our Judicial System is a mess.
Leave the Court as our founders designed it! It works as it is supposed to!
I don’t see any evidence that reform of the court is needed. I believe the needed reform occurred when President Trump appointed enough justices that believe in the Constitution to begin to overturn the unlawful decisions of a liberal-dominated court for decades.