- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
President also says presidential immunity for crimes should be removed and ethics rules for justices should be stricter
Joe Biden has called for a series of reforms to the US Supreme Court, including the introduction of term limits for justices and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
In an op-ed published on Monday morning, the president said justices should be limited to a maximum of 18 years’ service on the court rather than the current lifetime appointment, and also said ethics rules should be strengthened to regulate justices’ behavior.
The call for reform comes after the supreme court ruled in early July that former presidents have some degree of immunity from prosecution, a decision that served as a major victory for Donald Trump amid his legal travails.
“This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Biden wrote.
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Hmm. Why not set also set a retirement age? Are there any rules for what happens if a judge gets early onset Alzheimer’s or something?
The problem is that doing any of these things in a matter which will stick will require amendments, because that is the only process that this compromised Supreme Court might respect. (And even that is not a given: I wouldn’t put it past them to say that any amendment not passed by a Founding Father is invalid, or something).
So the first thing that needs to be done is to “pack” the court. (I prefer the term “unfuck”, but that is less PC). This can only be done if Democrats take the Presidency and both houses of Congres, and nuke the filibuster. But it’s that important. Dial the fucker up to 13, then go to Republicans and say “OK, now we need to work to fix the courts together. You can decline, but if you do you will watch Momala appoint 4 additional justices under the old rules, to lifetime terms, and bank on getting your own trifecta to re-fuck the Court”.
While we have the amendment process open, we also need to set a limit to how long Congress can deliberate on any appointment, not just SC. Once a President makes an appointment, the Senate shouldn’t be able to sit on it indefinitely. It should be guaranteed to get a vote in the full Senate within X legislative days. The Senate can vote it down, of course, but then the President can nominate someone else. Republican Senators challenged Obama to make a centrist pick for the SC, and he did. Mitch and Lindsey sat on it for months because they knew that it would pass if it went to the full Senate. This process basically gives the Senate Leader a veto over both the President and the will of the overall Senate, and cannot be what the Founders intended.
The trick with an amendment is even if you get the House and Senate, you still face ratification from the states.
So 38 out of 50 state legislatures need to ratify the amendment.
To put that in perspective… in 2020, Biden and Trump split the states evenly. 25/25, Biden also took D.C.
To get to 38, you’d need ALL 25 Biden states + 13 Trump states.
Even getting all 25 Biden states isn’t guaranteed because of those, 6 have Republican controlled state houses.
So now you’re looking at needing as many as 19 Trump states?
Exactly. The path to an amendment is super difficult, and Conservative states have no incentive to do so while they have so thoroughly captured the Supreme Court. That’s why you pack the Court first. Appoint 4 liberal justices in their early 40s to lifetime appointments, and you will see much more of a push from those Conservative states for reforms.
The democrats have no intention of getting this to pass. They just want to use it to get out the vote. The constitutional ammendment process was created to expect both parties to work together, that just isn’t the way things are anymore. So passing a constitutional ammendment is pretty much impossible.
18 years is a bit steep but glad it’s even being pushed in the first place
Why did he not push for this before the final months of his presidency? Why wait until the 11th hour?
I think you already know the answer, but are afraid to admit it to yourself.
If these reforms actually get implemented, Biden’s legacy will be enshrined as one of the most positively influential presidents ever.
If only he didn’t have the blemish of the Israel situation on his record, which (to be fair) he’s inherited-but has not handled well at all. I’m sure it’s way more complicated than what we know, but no matter what, it’s a bad thing to have attached to his legacy.
Up to 180,000 Palestinian deaths isn’t complicated. Btw, it’s a Tuesday in America.🇺🇸
Biden did not “inherit” the Israel situation. He made it a core part of his political career to be a staunch supporter of Zionism, ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians.
This is Biden in 1986 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYLNCcLfIkM
“Where there not an Israel, the US would have to invent an Israel”
Biden has always been driven by a desire to cause destabilization and war in the Middle East, killing millions of people through various US policies and invasions during his long political career.
I think the term is used here to indicate that Israel is a core part of America’s foreign policy, and regardless of who the president is, they have to deal with that legacy.
If Biden just stumbled into politics 15 years ago, maybe one could say that. But he made staunch support for Israel integral to his political career for over 40 years. And he also didn’t hold back on the “why”. It is to serve US interests which for the Middle East have been destabilization and brutal violence.
US has sent Israel thousands of 2,000-pound bombs since Oct. 7
Not really complicated. That’s why Irish MEP Clare Daly called him “Butcher Biden” and said he dishonors the legacy of his ancestors. It seems many Irish-Americans agree.
Why doesn’t he add term limits for congress? And make stock trading illegal for congress? And ban lobbying? etc etc. This “anti-corruption” bill is really ignoring the elephant(s) in the room.
Small steps. This is good, fixes the larger problem we’re facing today. If we pass this, then we tackle the next. And then the next…
The proposals I listed are MUCH bigger issues.
and to the rest of us they are important. They are big issues that are harder to fix because it requires those in charge to do something not in their best interest. Strategy and time, we must do it the hard way unless you want to rise up your secret army of leftists that will quickly fix this shit.
An army of leftists wouldn’t fix anything
He had 4 years, two of which we had the numbers…
It’s just a lot of Dems didn’t want to get rid of the fillibuster.
Having a D by your name isn’t enough, we need to elect Dems to those seats who are actually willing to fight.
Not saying there wouldn’t be more, but at least two Democrats are Republicans who ran under D and sabotaged several democratic agendas.
It would have been great to have the Democrats tow the party line and pass more meaningful legislation, but corrupt politicians gotta corrupt.
but at least two Democrats are Republicans who ran under D and sabotaged several democratic agendas.
So did Joe and the DNC fall for it?
Or were they lying when they said 50 was enough for the party platform?
Hell, four years ago Joe was saying he could get Republican senators to vote for the Dem platform
It would have been great to have the Democrats tow the party line and pass more meaningful legislation, but corrupt politicians gotta corrupt.
Dont tell me. Go tell the DNC who defends them, but hangs progressives out to dry and even supports their challengers.
Interesting how Biden and the Dems are calling for this when the Supreme Court is majority Conservatives… I wonder if he’d feel the same if the SC was majority Liberal…
If that case ever came to pass and a conservative majority did nothing, they would be as ethicaly compromised as the court is now and should be voted out of office. (Nice Whataboutism there eh… Pick a better argument)
It’s not that they’re conservative, it’s that they’re making dumb fucking decisions.
If the court were majority liberal we wouldn’t be desperate for reform because the justices who were appointed by democrats aren’t corrupt.
Clearly not, because if it were a liberal majority, it wouldn’t have declared Presidents above the law, or tried to outlaw abortion.
