Biden’s Supreme Court commission holds second meeting, pushes judicial term limits

President Biden’s Supreme Court commission examined Wednesday during its second public session the possibility of packing the Supreme Court and introducing term restrictions to end the appointment of life judges.

The Commission is expected to publish a final report on its findings and recommendations later this year.

During Wednesday’s hour-long session, a number of political and legal scholars testified that they support the term limits for the judges currently appointed for life.

Ilan Wurman, a law professor at Arizona State University, suggested that an 18-year term would be appropriate for the judges.

“The proposal for a staggered term of office of 18 years, which sets the court to nine judges, seems to me to be the most plausible of all the reforms available. It would require a constitutional amendment, but such a change is likely to have at least some support from all major political parties, “Wurman said.

Maya Sen, a political scientist at Harvard Kennedy School, also pushed for some kind of service restriction to be introduced, saying the Supreme Court nomination process has become increasingly political over the past few decades.

She said tenure restrictions “could be an effective tool to reverse this trend,” and the political nature of appointments has found its way onto the court as judges choose to retire if a president leaves one political ally is, is in the White House.

Regarding the composition of the court, Ms. Sen said critics’ concerns about adding judges to the Supreme Court could lead to back and forth between different presidents “is exaggerated”.

But not everyone who spoke during the meeting was in favor of increasing the court’s nine judges.

Noah Feldman, a law professor at Harvard University, was open to tenure restrictions but suggested that boxing the Supreme Court could do long-term damage.

“We have a lot more to gain together by preserving the institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court than by breaking it,” Feldman said.

Mr Biden’s commission to the United States Supreme Court was set up by executive order in April.

It is made up of Liberal and Conservative members who are expected to present a report in the coming months on what changes for the court will be implemented by the President and Congress.

The commission was set up amid calls by progressives to grab the Supreme Court out of anger that the Conservatives were holding a 6-3 majority in the bank after Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death last year.

The next meeting of the commission is scheduled for July 20th.

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