ACS Applauds Efforts to Reform the Supreme Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, media@acslaw.org

Washington, DC – The American Constitution Society released the following statement in response to reports that President Biden will call for Supreme Court reforms that include establishing term limits for justices and an enforceable code of ethics:

“The American Constitution Society applauds President Biden’s efforts to address the imbalance on this country’s highest court and to hold its justices accountable. One of the pillars of a democracy is a fair, impartial, and legitimate judiciary. This necessitates a judiciary that is bound by the rule of law, judicial norms, and ethics, and is not committed to a partisan agenda. Unfortunately, our highest federal court does not meet this threshold. The U.S. Supreme Court is in a legitimacy crisis, evident by plummeting public confidence in the face of the Right’s packing of the Court and the resulting devastating, partisan decisions.

The Court’s recent decisions, stripping away fundamental rights while ignoring decades of judicial precedents, and the corrupt behavior of the justices, have shown that both structural and non-structural SCOTUS reforms are badly needed. Reforms include ending life tenure for justices in favor of term limits, adding seats to the Court, and limiting use of the shadow docket, among others. With this announcement from President Biden, and recent actions taken by Congress to consider additional oversight of the courts and other reforms, we are finally seeing movement to restore the balance of power between the branches of government."

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org.