Janice R. Andrews
President Joe Biden’s recent appeal for major changes to the country’s top court prompted Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to offer a harsh warning. Among Biden’s recommendations are term limits, a mandatory code of behaviour for judges, and a constitutional amendment limiting the president’s immunity.
Gorsuch advised the president to move cautiously in an interview promoting his new book, highlighting the judiciary’s independent role as a check on executive power. It’s there for the times when you’re in the news and the government is after you. And don’t you want such judgements to be made by a jury of your peers and a fiercely independent judge? Is that not your American right? Gorsuch enquired. “And so, I just say, be careful,” he continued.
Appointed by the previous President Donald Trump, Justice Gorsuch is a member of the conservative majority that makes up the 6-3 Supreme Court. He has voiced worry that a large number of Americans do not recognise the importance of the court. “I’m not suggesting that we can’t make improvements to what we already have. All I’m saying is that we have been bestowed with something truly unique. The American judiciary is the envy of the world,” he declared.
At the moment, Gorsuch is promoting “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.” He goes on to explain the need for a careful balance in the legal system, saying that “if there is too little legislation, we are not safe, and our freedoms are not preserved. However, if you have too much legislation, the same things get worse.”
Gorsuch, 56, was the first of Trump’s three nominations to the Supreme Court. Joined forces have established a conservative majority that has rendered historic decisions that have expanded gun rights, relaxed environmental restrictions, reversed Roe v. Wade, and ended affirmative action in college admissions.
“Recent ethics scandals” involving justices and decisions by high courts that “overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights” have been mentioned by Biden as the catalyst for his reform proposals. As it announced Biden’s court proposal last week, the White House emphasised that “no one—neither the President nor the Supreme Court—is above the law.”
During a speech in Austin, Texas, the president is scheduled to formally propose these reforms today. But with less than a week until Election Day, it seems unlikely that a sharply divided Congress would approve his demands. Nevertheless, Democrats are hoping that Biden’s plan would help concentrate voters’ thoughts as they weigh their options in the close presidential race that is about to take place.
The presumed Democratic contender for vice president, Kamala Harris, has presented her contest against former president Donald Trump, a Republican, as “a choice between freedom and chaos.” As part of his plan, Biden wants to abolish lifetime appointments to the court and support legislation that would give the current president the authority to name justices for terms of eighteen years, every two years. Term limitations, he contends, would guarantee frequent alterations in the court’s composition and provide certainty to the nominating procedure.
Biden also wants to create an ethical code for justices that would mandate them to declare gifts, abstain from political action in public, and remove themselves from cases when they or their wives have a financial or other conflict of interest. Additionally, he calls on Congress to enact a constitutional amendment that overturns the Supreme Court’s recent precedent-setting immunity decision, which established that past presidents are immune from prosecution in most cases.
After a July verdict, it was decided that Trump could not face legal repercussions for using his presidential powers as allowed by the constitution. It also prolonged the stay of the criminal case in Washington against Trump, which accuses him of attempting to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. It was the first time that presidential immunity from prosecution was acknowledged. The likelihood that Trump will face trial prior to the November election is greatly affected by this judgement.
In light of his recent decision to withdraw from the race for reelection and support Harris to challenge Republican nominee Donald Trump in November, Biden is advocating for reforms. It also follows a string of rulings by the Supreme Court that have obstructed Biden’s agenda on a number of fronts, such as immigration, student loans, vaccination requirements, and climate change.
Gorsuch’s caution highlights the seriousness of the proposed reforms and their possible effects on the independence and operation of the U.S. judiciary, even as Biden’s ideas spark discussion. The future of the Supreme Court and its function in American democracy continue to be major topics of discussion in the country ahead of the next election.
