In an effort to "restore balance" to the majority conservative bench, House Democrats introduced a bill on Tuesday that would put term limits on US Supreme Court justices. In his testimony, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court was in crisis.
Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are also co-sponsors.
The conservative majority, which Nadler regards as "radical, unrestrained," has been influenced by rulings "this last year." Nadler wants term limits to shift the balance of power away from them. Roe v. Wade, which helped legalize abortion nationwide in 1973, was overturned by the Supreme Court in May. Activists and politicians on the left were opposed to the ruling. Conservatives cheered the decision.
A life-long term consists of nine justices on the Supreme Court, which was established in 1869. Nevertheless, some Democrats and leftist activists have been challenging this tradition. Chief Justice John Roberts is currently joined on the bench by Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The courts also have three left-leaning justices, including Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
27 July 2022
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