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IVN asked its audience if they support term limits for the US Supreme Court after President Joe Biden announced his position that justices should be limited to 18-year terms instead of a lifetime appointment as stipulated in the US Constitution.

Independent-minded voters had a chance to weigh in and many favor term limits – not just for the Supreme Court but Congress as well. 

President Biden announced his proposal for a couple of changes to the Supreme Court on Monday, including an enforceable code of ethics and term-limits, citing what he calls “extremism” on the high court. 

The AP reports:

“Biden pointed to the 2013 high court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and rolling back abortion rights, and a 2023 decision ‘eviscerating’ affirmative action in college admission programs as three prime examples of what he saw as ‘outrageous’ decisions that have shaken Americans’ faith in the high court.”

The term limit Biden proposes is 18 years, which would be four and a half presidential terms. This change, however, would require an amendment to the US Constitution, which gives all federal judges lifetime appointments unless they resign or are impeached. 

US House Speaker Mike Johnson says Biden’s proposals are “dead on arrival” in Congress. 

“It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the court’s recent decisions,” he said in response.

Regardless of how one feels about Biden’s proposals or Johnson’s assertion that it is DOA, the Speaker is right on that point – at least for the moment. It would be all but impossible to get two-thirds of Congress to approve such a constitutional amendment. 

Or any constitutional amendment, for that matter.

A 2022 poll conducted by AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds (67%) of Americans support term limits of some kind for the Supreme Court. About the same number of respondents also support a mandatory retirement age.

What do independent-minded voters think?

IVN posted the news of Biden’s Supreme Court proposals on Facebook, and asked them to weigh in on the question: Do you support Supreme Court term limits? The post received over 160 comments.

One of the top comments came from reader Rory Craig Frazee, who wrote:

“History shows that the Supreme Court has changed in the number of members that constitute the court. The original court had 6 members and Congress through the years has established the number as low as 5 and as high as 10. While we expect the Court to approach decisions in a bi-partisan manner using time tested interpretations of the Constitution and precedent, the fact remains that decisions are often made through an ideological lens whether intentional or not. With lifetime appointments, this can result in America being shaped by a single ideology that lacks balance over time. Term limits insure the possibility that as the country evolves, the court will best reflect that evolution. In addition, term limits will help to insure that candidates do not serve when their ages suggest they are past their ability to be most effective for the country."

This is a common argument for term limits for public officials across the board. The idea is that term limits ensure that perspectives shift and evolve with society, something that tends not to happen when a person has been in public office for half a century.

Some readers, like Tim Taylor, said “no” to the question, but added that he does support term limits “for congress and the senate.” Several readers, whether they want term limits for the high court or not, said congressional term limits need to happen first. 

But another view that was seen more than a few times in the comment section is that experience is important, especially within an institution like the Supreme Court. Josh Jt Neumann wrote:

“That is the one position that needs people with experience and not heading into another job after. Otherwise they could do it for a job and money down [the] road.” 

No matter how readers felt about the question, one thing can be said that is not seen in the partisan rhetoric over the Supreme Court and whether changes are needed to the institution:

The comments with the most engagement did not look at this in terms of who benefits between the Republican and Democratic Parties. They looked at it in terms of what’s best for the American people and for faith and confidence in the US judicial system.

Check out more from the Facebook post above