Opinion | Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/29/joe-biden-reform-supreme-court-presidential-immunity-plan-announcement/

40 comments

  1. It is ridiculous that this article isn’t free regardless of any accounts to WaPo

  2. >Opinion
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    Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law
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    We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power and restore the public’s faith in our judicial system.
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    By Joe Biden
    July 29, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.
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    >The writer is president of the United States.
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    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. No one.
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    But the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on July 1 to grant presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. The only limits will be those that are self-imposed by the person occupying the Oval Office.
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    If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences.
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    And that’s only the beginning.
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    On top of dangerous and extreme decisions that overturn settled legal precedents — including Roe v. Wade — the court is mired in a crisis of ethics. Scandals involving several justices have caused the public to question the court’s fairness and independence, which are essential to faithfully carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law. For example, undisclosed gifts to justices from individuals with interests in cases before the court, as well as conflicts of interest connected with Jan. 6 insurrectionists, raise legitimate questions about the court’s impartiality.
    I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers.
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    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.
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    That’s why — in the face of increasing threats to America’s democratic institutions — I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.
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    First, I am calling for a constitutional amendment called the No One Is Above the Law Amendment. It would 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. We are a nation of laws — not of kings or dictators.
    Second, we have had term limits for presidents for nearly 75 years. We should have the same for Supreme Court justices. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court’s membership changes with some regularity. That would make timing for court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary. It would reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come. I support a system in which the president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.
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    Third, I’m calling for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court. This is common sense. The court’s current voluntary ethics code is weak and self-enforced. Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt.
    All three of these reforms are supported by a majority of Americans — as well as conservative and liberal constitutional scholars. And I want to thank the bipartisan Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis, which informed some of these proposals.
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    We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. We can and must strengthen the guardrails of democracy.In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule.

    ​

    Everyone should read this, and not only those who can get past a pay wall.

  3. “First, I am calling for a constitutional amendment called the No One Is Above the Law Amendment. It would make clear that there is *no* immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office.

    Second, I support a system in which the president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.

    Third, I’m calling for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court.”

  4. >The writer is president of the United States.

    >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. No one.

    But the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on July 1 to grant presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. The only limits will be those that are self-imposed by the person occupying the Oval Office.

    If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences.

    And that’s only the beginning.

    On top of dangerous and extreme decisions that overturn settled legal precedents — including Roe v. Wade — the court is mired in a crisis of ethics. Scandals involving several justices have caused the public to question the court’s fairness and independence, which are essential to faithfully carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law. For example, undisclosed gifts to justices from individuals with interests in cases before the court, as well as conflicts of interest connected with Jan. 6 insurrectionists, raise legitimate questions about the court’s impartiality.

    I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and the 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.

    That’s why — in the face of increasing threats to America’s democratic institutions — I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.

    First, I am calling for a constitutional amendment called the No One Is Above the Law Amendment. It would 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. We are a nation of laws — not of kings or dictators.

    Second, we have had term limits for presidents for nearly 75 years. We should have the same for Supreme Court justices. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court’s membership changes with some regularity. That would make timing for court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary. It would reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come. I support a system in which the president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.

    Third, I’m calling for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court. This is common sense. The court’s current voluntary ethics code is weak and self-enforced. Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt.

    All three of these reforms are supported by a majority of Americans — as well as conservative and liberal constitutional scholars. And I want to thank the bipartisan Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States for its insightful analysis, which informed some of these proposals.

    We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. We can and must strengthen the guardrails of democracy.

    In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule

  5. Other advanced democracies have term limits for their Supreme Court. Some set it by age. It works.

    One example is age 75 in Canada.

    In Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and Israel, it’s age 70.

  6. Joe is coming out swinging for his final act. I’m liking it.

  8. Nice ideas…but if you need any legislative approval at any level, the idea is dead on arrival.

  9. He needs to roll out executive orders. Trump seemed to executive order every thing and then make the courts decide. If you executive order something positive and the court takes it away, aka the conservatives, this is a terrible look on the GOP. 

  10. I like it, doesn’t go far enough but it’s a good baby step.

  11. Very sensible reforms without actually expanding the court. It’s unfortunate they have an extremely small chance of passing anytime soon, but everything starts with an initial push. If one or more of these get realized in the next 5-10 years, Joe will be remembered for a legendary final act.

  13. I was afraid I was going to have to wait all day. First time I’m glad he’s this old where he’s able to get shit done by 5am so I can read it during a 6am shit. 

  14. Sucks he hasn’t called to expand the Court. That would be the most feasible solution, requiring the number of Justices to be equal to the circuits, which has been mentioned many times and the only one of the possible solutions that does not require a Constitutional Amendment, which is clearly impossible to pass.

    I don’t think you can simply clarify by law what “Good Behaviour” means, if you want to term limit judges without an amendment. And if you try, guess who gets to decide on that? It would be clear conflict of interest, and we know how the current court feels about those.

    Hopefully if the Dems win a trifecta they will finally decide to reform the filibuster (at least make it require actual work rather than just being a free out of voting card) and push major legislation through.

  15. Supreme Court Justices picked at random from a larger “pool” to hear a case seems like a nice idea too.

  16. Trouble is, I can’t see any route to achieve these reforms. They involve constitutional change, which requires bipartisan agreement.

    I can’t see any way out of the situation where democracy depends on every presidential election from now on, even if Trump dies and America continues to be one election away from autocracy and the single party state.

  18. It increases my pride in my country that we have a president who is trying to decrease presidential power.

    Joe Biden has shown us in the past two weeks especially that he is devoted to our country more than himself and. this is something that should be honored

  19. We can start by ensuring no Supreme Court Justice is above the law.

  20. To everyone ITT saying this has no chance of happening, Joe *knows that*.

    This is about getting the conversation started, reminding people (voters) “what America is meant to be” and getting undecide voters to associate the idea of “what America is meant to be” with the Democaritc Party, so they vote accordingly in November.

  21. Fully support this proposal as many Americans equally would,

  22. Democrats: Expanding the courts is a bridge too far.

    Trump: when I win I will add 4 incompetent conservative judges under 30 years old from a list handed to me by the Heritage Foundation. Don’t care who they are because I have to watch the Fox News morning show while eating a bag of egg McMuffins for breakfast.

  23. Don’t we need 75% to pass a constitutional amendment?

    I love his enthusiasm, but wish he had some more realistic shit.

    Wish we’d just stack the court.

  25. Incredibly excited to see how MAGA will contort to argue Presidents should, in fact, be above the law while trying to remain palatable to undecided voters. Will they fully drop the mask ? Will they vomit some insane word salad ? Who knows ! Just hoping Kamala staffers have PhotoShop and other content-making tools at the ready because a long day’s work is coming up for them.

  26. Joe Biden will be immortalized as the man that saved America while the left and right screamed libel insanity at him, mocking him alongside russian and Iranian bots. We needed him more than we ever realized. One thing he said twice now I noticed.

    “This is not normal”

    The youth don’t understand your as this is the only reality they know. We must purge these traitors from our society and restore normalcy and decency for their sake.

  28. If Harris wins and they have both the Senate and house, they need to kill the filibuster in regards to the court. Add members and force a hard ethics rule on them. The filibuster is already gone for appointments, so just add more. Take it to 13 and add the six in the first year. Should be the highest priority for them. Do not allow this corrupted court to go any further. Then rehear the immunity case and reverse it. Hell of a lot faster and easier than an amendment.

  29. Seems pretty reasonable, so I can guarantee the corrupt will call it extreme.

  30. I feel like it’s a real problem for society that so much news and information is behind paywalls.

  31. Good. The United States is a democracy and this rules for thee not for me BS is out of hand. Billionaires to prison NOW.

  32. What he wrote is clear, justifiable, necessary and absolutely what the founders would want…which is exactly why MAGAs won’t support it.

  33. The man is “unburdened” – and I’m here for it! Go Dark Brandon!!!

  34. Biden is truly the USA’s last hope. Once democracy gone the promised dictatorship will be forever.

  35. I’m glad he went with term limits over expanding the size of the court.

    I know some people were championing expansion, but that just seems too ripe for abuse by a Republican congress to me.

    “Dems expanded the court to 15? Well now it’s 25!”

  37. Biden is 100% right!!! But the dems need control of the WH, House and Senate to do it!

    VOTE!!!!

  38. I would’ve also liked an expanded court, but I’ll take it. Constitutional amendments are extremely difficult to pass. They weren’t supposed to be easy, but they weren’t supposed to be so difficult that they never happened.

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