Reforming the Courts
Co-equal not all powerfulIn America, we don’t want kings or queens. But Congress is allowing the men and women on the Supreme Court to act as if they wear crowns instead of robes–and, as the judiciary is set to lurch even further to the right of the American people than it already is, the need to reverse course is all the more pressing.
Flagrant evidence of corruption without any oversight. Unchecked, lifetime appointments. Decisions that consolidate policymaking power improperly and dangerously in the courts.
There are three branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial. Every child learns this in school. And each branch is designed to have checks and balances over one another. This isn’t just an abstract principle – the reason it’s important is that all three branches have a role in making sure that our laws, especially our Constitution, protect our freedoms and serve the public. Yet over the past several decades, the legislative branch has appeared to grow fearful of its duty to assert such checks over America’s courts.
Congress used to require the Supreme Court to hear certain kinds of cases. And while the Supreme Court chooses to hear historically low numbers of cases today, Congress used to require Supreme Court justices to work much harder than they currently do, even requiring them to serve on lower courts in addition to the Supreme Court. Congress has even created different tiers of service for judges and justices.
But in recent decades, the judiciary has been increasingly allowed to write their own rules and consolidate their own power. And what do they use that power to do? They use it to help implement an extreme policy agenda that Americans don’t support.
The Constitution requires that we have one Supreme Court, a critical part of our democracy. But the Constitution also gives Congress the obligation to make sure that one Supreme Court actually serves the people and not their own partisan interests. No single solution can solve all the problems that have brought the courts to where they are today. Congress must start with an honest assessment of where the courts are and then build a comprehensive reform plan. We know it must involve major ethics reforms and major structural reforms, like term limits and a restructuring of the Supreme Court as well as lower courts, but we also know other problems will need to be addressed. Reining in judge-shopping, judicial power grabs, and unconstitutional decisions like the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision are now just a few of the additional critical elements of a future reform.
It is time for Congress to once again do their job.
Four Steps To Reform Our Courts:
While the Supreme Court is the most high-profile part of the judicial branch, the vast majority of cases in the United States are heard at the district and circuit court levels. These judges have a significant impact on everyday Americans, which is why it is imperative that they be independent and fair-minded, and that they reflect the diversity of our nation.
We must defend our courts from the kinds of ideologues that Donald Trump and the far-right want to install on the bench – these are not the kinds of judges who will put people over politics, or who will rule in the best interests of average Americans.
The Supreme Court is the least accountable part of the federal government, with no binding code of ethics. Faced with multiple ethics crises and plummeting trust from the American public, the Court has made clear it is unable or unwilling to meaningfully police itself.
In fact, just last year, when the Court released what it claimed was a new code of ethics designed to restore public trust in its members – they made following those rules optional.
Congress must institute a binding code of ethics so that Americans can trust the justices are ruling based on the law, not politics and personal interest.
Presidents that the American people elect for one term shouldn’t be able to appoint the same – or even more – Supreme Court justices than presidents they elect for two terms. Yet that is exactly what our current system allows to happen.
Instead of having justices serve unchecked for life, we should create term limits that ensure justices serve a uniform number of years. Term limits would give each president the opportunity to appoint the same number of Supreme Court justices each term, reducing partisan gamesmanship around each confirmation and making the Court more democratically representative.
Choosing judges who will advance a dangerous and unpopular agenda from the bench – one that benefits the rich and powerful at the cost of public health and safety, the environment, free and fair elections, and our civil rights.
In our constitutional system, checks and balances are also crucial in making sure the government works for the public. In recent years, some courts have aggressively sought to expand their power, placing themselves ahead of neutral experts and those who actually represent the people. In order to protect the public from this overreach, Congress must rein in judge-shopping, set appropriate bounds for courts’ jurisdiction, and address unconstitutional decisions like the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.