Joe Biden has proposed sweeping reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court accusing it of making “dangerous and extreme decisions” and losing the public’s trust. The Telegraph has more.
The U.S. President, who has been a frequent critic of the conservative-leaning court’s recent judgments, said its members should be subject to 18-year term limits and a “binding” code of conduct.
Writing in the Washington Post, he claimed the court was “mired in a crisis of ethics” and needed drastic reform to “restore trust and accountability”.
Mr. Biden also proposed a constitutional amendment that would reverse a July 1st ruling in which the court ruled that Donald Trump and other former Presidents have partial immunity from criminal prosecution for “official actions” during their time in the White House.
“What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms,” he said. “We now stand in a breach.”
Earlier this month, the court split along partisan lines when it ruled that Trump could not be prosecuted for exercising his constitutional powers while in office, and had the “presumption of immunity” for his official acts.
Arguing that the decision turned Presidents into “kings and dictators”, Mr Biden called for a constitutional amendment to “make clear that there is no immunity for crimes a former President committed while in office”.
“I share our founders’ belief that the President’s power is limited, not absolute,” he added.
It marks Mr. Biden’s first major intervention since he dropped out of the Presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris just over a week ago.
Analysts said the President’s proposals were largely aspirational. Term-limits and a code of conduct would need Congressional approval, and are unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House. A constitutional amendment would need two-thirds support in both the House and the Senate, or an even more far-fetched passage on state-level.
The President, a former Chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, accused the court of making “dangerous and extreme decisions that overturn settled legal precedents” – such as ending the federal right to an abortion.
Six of the nine Supreme Court judges were appointed by Republican presidents. Three of them were put in place by Trump, while Mr. Biden has appointed only one.
So is it now okay to oppose the “rule of law” and label judges “extreme” when they make decisions you don’t like, or only if you’re on the Left? I think we all know the answer to that.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.