Left-Leaning Group Proposes Term Limits for SCOTUS
by Stuart MacPhail – September, 2020
The August 3 edition of The Epoch Times carried an article by Matthew Vadum entitled Democrat Think Tank Embraces Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices. The referenced think tank is The Center for American Progress (CAP), founded by John Podesta.
In releasing the proposal, Maggie Jo Buchanan, CAP’s director of legal progress said, “The idea of term limits for the Supreme Court is gaining momentum and continues to enjoy support by a variety of progressive— as well as conservative— legal experts.”
Although the US Constitution does not explicitly say Supreme Court Justices serve for life, Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution has always been interpreted to provide for such tenure. Thus, a limit on Judicial terms would probably require a constitutional amendment.
The announcement made no mention of seeking a Congressionally-proposed amendment or using an Article V convention of states to propose the constitutional change that could lead to the imposition of SCOTUS term limits. Instead, Ms. Buchanan repeatedly references SCOTUS term lengths as “rules.” She says, “The rules governing the US Supreme Court must be updated to reflect the reality of life in modern America. The average tenure of a Supreme Court justice has significantly lengthened since the establishment of the federal judiciary in the 1700s, giving outsize power to nine individuals in a way the framers of the Constitution could never have imagined.” Then she said, “This state of affairs is untenable; policymakers must address it by enacting legislation to create term limits for justices.” Read the Epoch Times article HERE.
