Hirono, Schatz Want Term Limits For US Supreme Court
Legislation calls for a new justice to take the bench every two years and spend 18 years in active service.
Seeking “balance and fairness,” four U.S. senators have introduced the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act, which would establish term limits for justices.
According to a press release, the TERM Act would require a new justice to take the bench every two years and spend a total of 18 years in active service.
鈥淔ar-right groups have spent years working to tip the Supreme Court鈥檚 balance in their favor, leaving us with an outcome-driven Court that increasingly disregards precedent, separation of powers, and the rule of law,鈥 said Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii.
She continued: 鈥淲e are already seeing the detrimental consequences of this right-wing power grab 鈥 from overruling common sense gun safety law, and restricting the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 ability to combat climate change, to eliminating the fundamental right to abortion care. We need to restore balance and fairness to our nation鈥檚 highest court. Creating term limits for Supreme Court justices is a first step in that process.鈥
Hirono is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) are co-introducers of the Term Act.
The current high court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Hirono’s office says the legislation would “preserve life tenure” by ensuring that senior justices retired from regular active service continue to hold the office of Supreme Court justice, including official duties and compensation.
It would also require the Supreme Court justice who most recently assumed senior status to fill in on the Court if the number of justices in regular active service falls below nine.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) introduced companion legislation last week in the U.S. House of Representatives.
