Biden Considering Expanding the Supreme Court is Long Overdue
The Constitution states federal judges shall enjoy lifetime appointments “during good behavior.” They, like all government officials, are subjected to the impeachment process, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demonstrated when she introduced articles of impeachment last week against Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
But impeachment of justices is a high bar to achieve. In our history, 15 judges have been impeached. Of those, eight were convicted in the Senate and removed; three resigned before their impeachment processes completed; four were acquitted, one of which, Samuel Chase, was the only Supreme Court Justice to ever face impeachment.
Impeachment is a serious and important measure in place to hold individuals’ behavior to account. It does not address systemic problems, however. Therefore, after a slew of alarmingly dystopic decisions from the almighty un-elected black-robed monarchs on the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), President Joe Biden seeks to do something progressive and long overdue: impose term limits and enforce a new ethics code.
President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the…
