Posted on 08/26/2024 8:09:53 AM PDT by MtnClimber
President and former Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden made clear his disdain for the current U.S. Supreme Court by proposing that justices have term limits and by imposing a “code of ethics” on its members. A plurality of Americans agree, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows, but the poll reveals a sharp political schism emerging over the issue.
Depending on which party wins, the next Congress will decide whether the limits on the justices will go into effect or whether the plan gets deep-sixed. For the Supreme Court, the stakes will be high.
In the national online I&I/TIPP Poll of 1,488 adults taken from July 31 -Aug. 2, Americans were asked the following question:
“President Biden wants Congress to impose term limits and a code of ethics on the Supreme Court. Supporters argue that it would make the nation’s high court more accountable to elected officials. Opponents contend that it would politicize the court and violate the Constitution’s carefully crafted separation of powers, designed to prevent dictatorship.
“To what extent do you agree or disagree with Biden’s plan?”
“President Biden wants Congress to impose term limits and a code of ethics on the Supreme Court. Supporters argue that it would make the nation’s high court more accountable to elected officials. Opponents contend that it would politicize the court and violate the Constitution’s carefully crafted separation of powers, designed to prevent dictatorship.
“To what extent do you agree or disagree with Biden’s plan?”
Respondents were given five possible responses: “Agree strongly,” “Agree somewhat,” “Disagree somewhat,” “Disagree strongly,” and “Not sure.” The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.
Overall, 46% said they either agreed strongly (25%) or somewhat (21%), while a total of 37% said they either disagreed somewhat (10%) or strongly (27%). A fairly large group, 16%, wasn’t sure.
Note that the share that opposes Biden’s idea strongly, at 27%, is slightly larger than the share that supports it “strongly,” at 25%. So while having a plurality, the Biden proposal’s supporters are overall less intense than their opponents.
Looking at the data a bit closer reveals other sharp fissures in public opinion, mostly along party lines.
Start with the Democrats, the party that initiated the proposal. An overwhelming 81% agree, while only 9% disagree, with the proposal for limits on the court.
Among Republicans, meanwhile, 67% disagreed, while 20% agreed. Independents, often the straddle vote, disagreed 39% to 38%, too close to call and within the margin of error.
Then there’s the male/female split. While virtually the same on whether they agree (41% male, 42% female), that’s where the agreement ends. The “disagree” vote split is much bigger, with men at 50% and women at just 38%. In short, men oppose the idea, and women mostly support it.
This potentially momentous proposal — put forward by Biden on July 29, just a week after surrendering his presidential campaign under intense pressure from his own party — didn’t emerge from nothing.
The political left in general and Democrats in specific have fretted over the court’s moderate-to-conservative majority, which has overturned several lower-court decisions and federal laws long cherished by liberal Democrats.
In just the last session, the court expanded presidential immunity, and overturned the doctrine of “Chevron deference,” which reduced federal bureaucrats’ power to make laws.
“Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court’s decisions,” Biden said in late July, announcing his court reform plans at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. He added that the court had “undermined long established civil rights principles, and protections,” including the weakening of affirmative action in higher education, and revamping enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
But one ruling in recent years stands out: The high court’s June 2022 repeal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which created a national constitutional right to abortion. That decision had been a centerpiece of left-right debate for over five decades. Now, it’s left up to the individual states.
The argument has sharpened of late, especially as abortion advocates have pushed for a right to abortion even up to birth, but now must face 50 separate state legislatures to get what they want. “The downfall of the constitutional right to abortion began 12 years ago (in 2010), after Republicans swept state house elections and passed hundreds of restrictions,” asserted The New York Times in 2022.
In recent months, in addition to Biden’s move, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has proposed impeaching both Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, two of the most conservative voices on the current court, supposedly because of “gifts” they received from outside the Court and their wives’ involvement in political movements.
While candidate Kamala Harris backs Biden’s move, for now it seems highly unlikely that Biden’s proposal will either get passed or even brought to the floor in congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, for instance, said it’s “dead on arrival,” calling out Biden for trying to “radically overhaul” the court in an election year. So if the House remains in Republican hands, any bill to reform the Supreme Court won’t happen.
More to the point, the Supreme Court’s powers and functions are defined by the Constitution, which foresaw three co-equal branches of government and made it very difficult for one branch to meddle in the affairs of another. Changing that arrangement likely will require a constitutional amendment.
In case you’re wondering, here’s what a constitutional amendment entails, as described by the White House’s own website:
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
It’s a long, arduous process. Altering the Constitution for political purposes is one of the hardest things to do. It is so by the founders’ own design. As Donald Trump himself said told Fox News, “It’s going nowhere. They need 75% (of the states). He (Biden) can’t get it. He knows that too.”
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If dissent is made illegal, why not?
Unfortunately there are many scurrilous ways that the democRATs could alter the SCOTUS. DOJ-ordered SWAT raids by on conservative justices for “conspiring against our democracy” or some other charges and imprisoning them without bail for years and years awaiting a trial date that will never come.....Just one possibility.
The fool has NO jurisdiction over the court. It is a separate, co-equal branch of government.
And if Congress tries to mess with their budget, Courts have inherent power to Order them to advance sufficient resources to run the courts to whatever tune the court says and wants.
The legislative and executive branches cannot impose term limits on the judicial branch. Only a Constitutional amendment can do such a thing.
Good Lord, why are we even discussing this?
This will have to be decided by the Supreme Court.
The November 2024 Election is Republicans vs. The Chinese Communist Party.
The US Democrat Party is a proxy for the Chinese Communist Party.
Because the democRATs are discussing this. There is plenty that can happen without a Constitutional Amendment.
Who the hell is Biden and where the hell does he get the authority to “reform” the US Supreme Court?
Like what?
The Biden DOJ has SWAT teams. He has already used them against President Trump. You think some conservative Supreme Court justices are going to win if it comes to this. This is about power and power comes from the barrel of a gun from the side of the aisle that hates the US Constitution. Republicans will be too frightened of the SWAT teams to squeek out even a little peep of protest.
Like Merrick Garland ordering SWAT raids to arrest the conservative Supreme Court justices and place them in the J6 prison awaiting trial for insurrection. Before you say this is preposterous, just remember it already happened to President Trump. If they are awaiting trial for 8 years then they cannot vote on cases. Or maybe they just get "Epsteined" in prison and there is not even the need for a show trial.
It is just the sound of the Swirl that is made as the tub makes as freedom is drained. Do Democrats even support the Bill of Rights? Maybe someone should do a poll on that.
When does the USSC get to impose a “code of conduct” on politicians?
They could just issue an opinion in an ethics/corruption/bribery case, declare a set of standards that if violated disqualifies the perp from office. Such as “failure to tell the truth during a campaign” as a basis for a finding of a “fraud on the public”. And some random judge gets to decide what constitutes “the truth”, just like the dems want. No danger of politization there, right? And judges are always impartial and cannot make mistakes - at least when the MSM agrees with the decision.
See how easy the reverse of the fascist dems’ ideas exposes their idiocy?
I would think that changing the terms for the USSC would be a STATE BY STATE VOTE change to the Constitution.
NOT JUST UP TO CONGRESS.
THE ‘HIGH COURT” is NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO ELECTED OFFICIALS.
NEVER HAS BEEN.
WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE.
3 SEPARATE BRANCHES===SEPARATE.
HOW ABOUT THE SUPREMES ELIMINATE THE PRESIDENT???
Going to fixed terms for the federal judiciary would require a constitutional amendment. Two thirds of both Houses of Congress would send the amendment proposal to the states for ratification, and three fourths of the states would ratify to get it into the Constitution.
THAT is an excellent idea. The President is not a king. He does not control all three branches of the government no matter what the boy Kenyan says.
“Like Merrick Garland ordering SWAT raids to arrest the conservative Supreme Court justices and place them in the J6 prison awaiting trial for insurrection.”
How about the 2nd Marine Division heading up I-95 and arresting the FBI and Justice Department for treason.
Writing fiction is fun.
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