Biden proposes comprehensive reforms of the Supreme Court and attacks “extreme” judges

Joe Biden has proposed comprehensive reforms to the US Supreme Court, accusing it of making “dangerous and extreme decisions” and losing public trust.

The US president, who has frequently criticized the conservative-leaning court’s recent rulings, said members of the court should be subject to an 18-year term limit and should be subject to a “binding” code of conduct.

In a speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act passed under President Lyndon Johnson at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, Biden said the public has lost faith in the court and reform is long overdue.

“Undisclosed gifts to judges worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy patrons who have interests before the court” would exacerbate that loss of trust, he said.

In addition, a series of extreme decisions – including the abolition of the Roe Act and the ban on positive discrimination – have been used to “weaponize an extreme and uncontrolled agenda”.

He said the court also granted Donald Trump’s request for broad immunity.

“The court ruled in favor of a former president. No other president in history has demanded such immunity for criminal acts,” he said.

“And no president, no former president, not me, not a single one, should have been granted an exception to this.”

Biden, 81, said he was calling for three changes: an 18-year term limit, a mandatory code of conduct and an amendment stating that “no one is above the law.”

The constitutional amendment would overturn a July 1 ruling in which the court found that Donald Trump and other former presidents enjoyed partial immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts” while in the White House.

Polls show that trust in America’s highest court has fallen, but it remains to be seen how successful Biden will be in bringing about change. Permanent changes would require an act of Congress, and the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans.

On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said any proposal Biden puts forward was “doomed to fail from the start.” In his speech, Biden said of Johnson’s words: “I think his thinking is doomed to fail from the start.”

Biden had previously claimed in an article in the Washington Post that the court was “facing an ethical crisis” and needed to be drastically reformed to “restore trust and accountability.”

“What is happening now is not normal and undermines public confidence in the court’s decisions, including those affecting personal freedoms,” he said. “We are now in a breach.”

Immunity against Trump

Earlier this month, the court split along party lines when it ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for exercising his constitutional powers while in office and that a “presumption of immunity” applied to his official actions.

Biden argued that the decision had turned presidents into “kings and dictators” and called for a constitutional amendment to “make clear that there is no immunity for crimes committed by a former president while in office.”

“I share the belief of our founders that presidential power is limited, not absolute,” he added.

This is Biden’s first major intervention since he dropped out of the presidential race just over a week ago and endorsed Kamala Harris.

Analysts said the president’s proposals are mostly ambitious goals. Term limits and a code of conduct would need approval from Congress and are unlikely to pass the Republican-dominated House. A constitutional amendment would need a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate, or an even more far-fetched passage at the state level.

The president, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused the court of making “dangerous and extreme decisions that override existing legal precedents” – such as abolishing federal abortion rights.

Six of the Supreme Court’s nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Three of them were put in office by Trump, while Mr Biden appointed only one.

Members are not subject to term limits or age limits, meaning their appointment is one of the most consequential decisions a U.S. president can make.

Mr Biden proposed that judges should serve a maximum of 18 years, with the president appointing a new judge every two years.

“The United States is the only major constitutional democracy whose Supreme Court awards lifetime appointments,” he wrote.

“Term limits would help ensure that the Court’s membership changes with some regularity. That would make the timing of appointments to the Court more predictable and less arbitrary. It would reduce the likelihood that a single presidency would radically alter the composition of the Court for generations to come.”

Code of Conduct

Mr Biden also proposed a code of conduct after what he said was a series of controversies that had undermined public confidence in the court.

“Scandals involving several judges have led the public to doubt the fairness and independence of the court, which are essential to the conscientious fulfillment of its mission of equal treatment before the law,” he said.

“Judges should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.”

Clarence Thomas, a conservative judge and one of the panel’s oldest and longest-serving members, sparked controversy by failing to disclose a series of trips funded by a billionaire Republican donor.

Samuel Alito, another long-time conservative judge, came under public scrutiny this year after reports emerged that flags belonging to Donald Trump supporters had been flown outside two of his homes.

Thousands of constitutional amendments have been proposed, but only 27 have been passed in U.S. history.