{"id":1583994,"date":"2022-08-02T07:46:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1583994"},"modified":"2022-08-02T07:46:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:46:29","slug":"democrat-lawmakers-want-scotus-term-limits-so-they-can-hijack-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-lawmakers-want-scotus-term-limits-so-they-can-hijack-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat Lawmakers Want SCOTUS Term Limits So They Can Hijack The Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrat-lawmakers-want-scotus-term-limits-so-they-can-hijack-the-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1583994&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On July 26, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., <a href=\"https:\/\/hankjohnson.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/rep-johnson-introduces-supreme-court-justice-term-limit-measure-restore\">introduced<\/a> a bill to end life tenure for Supreme Court Justices. The \u201cSupreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act\u201d proposes to end life tenure and create a system where justices actively serve for 18 years before taking senior status. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is introducing the bill in the Senate. This is a clear partisan political reaction to the court\u2019s release of a series of excellent decisions this term and contains serious constitutional and logical problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/browse\/article-3\/\">Article III, Section 1<\/a> of the U.S. Constitution vests all judicial power in the courts and states that \u201c[t]he Judges \u2026 shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.\u201d This has <a href=\"https:\/\/constitutioncenter.org\/blog\/constitution-check-did-the-founders-want-term-limits-for-supreme-court-just\">long been interpreted<\/a> to give life tenure to Supreme Court justices, as long as they are not impeached due to lack of \u201cgood Behaviour.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How, then, does Congress think it can get away with passing clearly unconstitutional legislation? The Democrats who have proposed this legislation have, of course, thought about this a bit. The TERM Act requires a justice to assume senior status after 18 years. At this time, he will retain his title as a \u201cSenior Justice\u201d and will continue to be compensated, hear cases on lower courts, and serve on the Supreme Court should a vacancy or conflict with a current acting justice arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The bill\u2019s sponsors believe that this solves the constitutional problem. If justices are forced to retire after 18 years but they can maintain their office as a senior justice and continue getting paid, then the letter of the Constitution is fulfilled, they claim.<\/p>\n<p>It is questionable that the constitutional requirement that a justice \u201cshall hold [his] Office\u201d is fulfilled by forcing a justice into partial retirement. Justice David Souter, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2009, still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/retired-justice-david-h-souter-the-luckiest-guy-returns-to-his-books\/2011\/09\/10\/gIQA0Iw0KK_story.html\">hears<\/a> cases on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Nobody would say that he still serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This method of forced semi-retirement seems to be fiction so leftist politicians can get around the language of Article III. Forcing judges into retirement to pursue fulfilling constitutional language on a technicality is dubious at best.<\/p>\n<p>One bad faith claim, in particular, made in Johnson\u2019s introduction of the TERM Act needs to be addressed. Johnson claims that the legitimacy of the Supreme Court is in question because \u201c[f]ive of the six conservative justices on the bench were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, and they are now racing to impose their out-of-touch agenda on the American people, who do not want it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson\u2019s fear of a \u201cradical, unrestrained majority\u201d on the Supreme Court and its \u201cout of touch agenda\u201d has been a concern of the left since the Supreme Court has allegedly become more conservative in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/12\/31\/opinion\/supreme-court-term-limits.html\">liberal case<\/a> for Supreme Court term limits is based on a flawed and dangerous desire to usher in a \u201cregular turnover on [the] court and the renewal of democratic consent and input into the process of judicial review.\u201d This \u201crenewal of democratic consent\u201d may sound nice, but it is clearly contrary to the American founders\u2019 intent and the judiciary\u2019s very purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/billofrightsinstitute.org\/activities\/federalist-no-78-excerpts-annotated\">Federalist 78<\/a>, Alexander Hamilton wrote about the importance of having independent Article III judges. Hamilton said, \u201cThis independence of the judges is equally requisite to guard the Constitution and the rights of individuals from the effects of those ill humors which the arts of designing men, or the influence of particular conjunctures, sometimes disseminate among the people themselves, and which, though they speedily give place to better information, and more deliberate reflection, have a tendency, in the meantime, to occasion dangerous innovations in the government, and serious oppressions of the minor party in the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The democratic elements of government, particularly the legislature, which changes both its members and the laws quite quickly, tend to innovate, move quickly with the latest trend, and oppress opposition. This is precisely the reason federal judges were constitutionally granted life tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The call for \u201crenewal of democratic consent and input into the process of judicial review\u201d is a dangerous attack on the separation of powers, on checks and balances. There is intentionally not supposed to be democratic input into how the judiciary functions. The judges\u2019 jobs are to interpret the law, without regard for the latest trend among voters and popular opinion. Continuing to politicize the judiciary, to demand that the Supreme Court be more \u201cin touch\u201d and \u201cwith the times\u201d is contrary to the very purpose of an independent judiciary. Judges need to be free from such popular constraints so they can do their job.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives should oppose the TERM Act because it is unconstitutional and terrible policy. Conservatives must also be careful not to adopt such causes only when they are politically expedient. We ought to respect American traditions and institutions, understand their logic, and make changes only when necessary. The correct constitutional action to remove problematic judges is impeachment, not the imposition of term limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court must remain free from the changing tides of popular opinion.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Frank DeVito is an attorney living in eastern Pennsylvania with his wife and three young children. His work has previously been published in The American Conservative, the Quinnipiac Law Review and the Penn State Online Law Review.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On July 26, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., introduced a bill to end life tenure for Supreme Court Justices. The \u201cSupreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act\u201d proposes to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":948,"featured_media":1897866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1583994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/02\/democrat-lawmakers-want-scotus-term-limits-so-they-can-hijack-the-court\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=democrat-lawmakers-want-scotus-term-limits-so-they-can-hijack-the-court","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/948"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}