BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III has announced his intention to file legislation next week that would introduce term limits for all future U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
According to Congressman Kennedy's office, the bill would establish 18-year term limits on any Supreme Court Justices approved after its passage. After their 18-year terms, justices would then be allowed to continue their service on lower courts.
Kennedy's bill would then create a regular appointment process to allow every president to nominate a new justice to the Supreme Court during each odd year, guaranteeing each president the opportunity to nominate two justices per four-year term.
“Lifetime appointments to the highest court in our land undermine our democratic process and erode progress in our nation,” said Rep. Kennedy III. “In recent days, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have once again exploited the Supreme Court in their anti-democratic power grabs. If we believe in the promise of this nation and our march toward a more perfect union, we must enact term limits on our Supreme Court justices.”
Introduced with Virginia Congressman Don Beyer and California Congressman Ro Khanna, this will be the first time the notion of Supreme Court term limits has been proposed as a bill, rather than a constitutional amendment.
“For many Americans, the Supreme Court is a distant, secretive, unelected body that can make drastic changes in their lives without any accountability,” said Rep. Beyer. “The dramatic politicization of the Court in recent years has greatly undermined the conception of the Court as a group of dispassionate, apolitical jurists, and made the argument for lifetime tenure increasingly obsolete."
Rep. Kennedy's office said the bill is endorsed by Fix the Court, and will be introduced in the United States House of Representatives on Tuesday September 29.
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