(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden is calling for reform to the Supreme Court, citing some of its recent high-profile decisions as cause for concern and catalysts for change.
Biden endorsed the proposals during a speech Monday afternoon at the LBJ Presidential Library, where he also voiced support for a binding code of conduct for the justices.
“This Court has gutted civil rights protections, taken away a woman’s right to choose, and now granted Presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office,” the Biden administration said in a news release.
In an op-ed published Monday in the Washington Post, Biden outlined three “bold” reforms needed to “restore trust and accountability” to the nation’s high court:
- Forbidding immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office.
- Implementing term limits for Supreme Court justices.
- Creating a “binding” code of conduct for the Supreme Court.
“These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Monday.
A proposed constitutional amendment, which the White House is calling the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment,” aims to fix a 6-3 decision granting presidents immunity for acts done in an “official” capacity.
“For all practical purposes, today’s decision essentially means that there are no limits on what a president can do,” Biden said of the decision on July 2, calling it an attack on the “long-established legal principles in our nation.”
Under Biden’s proposed Supreme Court term limits, a justice would be appointed by the president once every two years, landing them — at maximum — an 18-year term.
The final reform proposal lays out an ethics and conduct code for justices to follow. It would require them to disclose any gifts, stay out of public political activity and recuse themselves from cases with any chance of potential conflicts of interest.
“I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach,” Biden wrote in his op-ed.
His op-ed, which further explained his reform measures, was published just hours ahead of his appearance at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, where he will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
That speech was originally scheduled for July 15 but was postponed after the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
