Kerby Anderson

As you may have heard, President Biden wants to change the Supreme Court. This latest desperate attempt at “court packing” will not succeed, but it’s worth discussing as a teachable moment. In his op-ed, the president proclaimed, “I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.” One of his proposals is 18-year term limits for justices.

The Founding Fathers gave Supreme Court justices lifetime tenure while serving with good behavior. They did so to assure justices had independence from political whims. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist Paper #78 that “This independence of the judges is equally requisite to guard the Constitution and the rights of individuals” and would protect them from “serious oppressions of the minor party.”

Kelly Shackelford (First Liberty Institute) quotes Joe Biden, who in 1983 said that court packing “was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make. And it put in question, for an entire decade, the independence of the most significant body” which is the Supreme Court. He says Biden was right back in 1983 and wrong today.

His organization had put together a nationwide coalition of nearly a half million patriots who plan to flood Congress and the White House with this critical message: NO to court packing, NO to the liberal agenda, NO to a Supreme Court Coup.

Kristen Waggoner (Alliance Defending Freedom) also warns, “Don’t be fooled. This move by President Biden has nothing to do with protecting the court and has everything to do with the Left’s desire to dominate every institution in society.”

These proposals have little chance of succeeding since they need an amendment to the Constitution. That requires a supermajority of Congress and ratification by three-fourth of the states.

Fortunately, none of these so-called “reforms” will be enacted.