2024-07-30 08:00:35
US President Joe Biden will today propose significant reforms to the Supreme Court, including term limits for magistrates and a binding code of conduct for the nine justices, Reuters reported. However, due to the great division in Congress, the chances of passing the changes are slim.
In a speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, Biden will propose changes and a constitutional amendment to remove presidential immunity.
“This nation was founded on a simple but wise principle: No one is above the law. Neither does the President of the United States. Neither does a United States Supreme Court Justice. No one,” says Biden in an article published today by the Washington Post.
Biden’s call for reform comes a week after he dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination to face Republican nominee Trump in November’s election.
The call also comes after the Supreme Court ruled that abortion is not a constitutional right, and other rulings that have blocked Biden’s agenda on immigration, student loans, mandatory vaccinations and climate change.
Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, Supreme Court justices, who hold office for life, are not bound by an ethical code of conduct. By law, they are required to declare side income and certain gifts, with the general exception of accepted invitations to lunches and dinners and guesting at a third party’s property.
In November, the court adopted its first code of conduct after it was revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas had taken an undeclared vacation. There have also been reports this year, such as reports that flags have been flown outside Justice Samuel Alito’s homes in Virginia and New Jersey in connection with then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
Critics say the ethics code is not broad enough because it allows judges to decide whether to recuse themselves from cases and does not offer a mechanism to enforce it.
Biden will urge Congress to pass legally binding and enforceable rules that would require judges to declare gifts, refrain from political activity and recuse themselves from cases that present a financial or other conflict of interest for them or their spouse , the White House said.
The head of state will also urge Congress to pass an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices, the White House said.
Biden will also propose a constitutional amendment to clarify that even if a person has held the office of president, that should not guarantee immunity from federal criminal prosecution, trial, indictment or conviction.
Passing such an amendment would be even more complicated, as it would need support from both houses of Congress or a convention called by two-thirds of the states, then ratification by the legislatures of 38 of all 50 states, BTA reported.
The US Supreme Court this month ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president. It was a historic decision that recognized for the first time a form of presidential immunity from prosecution.