President Joe Biden is planning to spend the last six months of his presidency focusing on making changes to the United States Supreme Court. During his address to the nation, he discussed his decision to drop out as the Democratic party presidential nominee. He also touted his appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court as the first African American woman to be in the highest judicial position in the country.
There have been reports about three proposals Biden is considering in regards to Supreme Court reforms. He is considering establishing term limits for the justices on the court. This has been a primary point of contention for voters who feel that policial judges can be appointed to court which can have lasting impacts. Under the current law, Supreme Court justices remain on the court until they die or resign from the office.
Biden is considering a constitutional amendment that would remove broad immunity for government officials and the president in the wake of the recent Supreme Court immunity decision. Another potential change to the court would be changing the ethics code to make it more enforceable.
During his address, Biden said that Supreme Court reform is an important step for democracy. Constitutional Attorney John Shu said it is unknown whether Biden would be able to implement term limits with a statute, but he said a constitutional amendment would be the best way to make the change. Despite that, Shu said making such changes would be a threat to democracy. He said it would be very stupid to demolish the Constitution and the judicial branch of government in response to court rulings they dislike.
Others have called the proposed changes to the court a threat to judicial independence. While President Biden claims that reforms are necessary to protect democracy, his opponents claim that democracy is under threat if these proposed reforms are implemented. Biden previously opposed “court packing,” which would have called for more justices on the Supreme Court to combat the long-lasting effects of politically-motivated judges.
