Legislation

Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act

To restore legitimacy and independence to our nation’s highest court, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced the TERM Act (H.R.5566). The bill would establish regular appointments and term limits for current and future Supreme Court justices. Every two years, Presidents would appoint one new justice who spends 18 years in active service. As new justices are appointed, current justices would take senior status in order of seniority, beginning with Justice Clarence Thomas. More details:

• Establish terms of 18 years in regular active service for Supreme Court justices, after which justices who retain the office will assume senior status;
• Establish regular nominations of Supreme Court justices in the first and third years following a presidential election as the sole means of Supreme Court appointments;
• Require current justices to assume senior status in order of length of service on the Court as regularly appointed justices receive their commissions;
• Preserve life tenure by ensuring that senior justices retired from regular active service continue to hold the office of Supreme Court justice, including official duties and compensation; and
• Require a randomly-selected senior status Supreme Court justice to fill in on the Court if the number of justices in regular active service falls below nine.

The TERM Act would build on the existing retirement system for Article III judges, which the Court has repeatedly upheld as constitutional. The bill would also preserve judicial independence by ensuring that justices who assume senior status remain fully compensated members of the federal judiciary for life, capable of exercising official duties on and off the bench for as long as they choose.

Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits (BATL) Act

To restore legitimacy and independence to our nation’s highest court, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) introduced the BATL Act (S.3096). The bill would establish common sense, 18-year term limits for current and future Supreme Court justices while preserving judicial independence. Every two years, a new justice would take the bench and spend 18 years participating in all cases, after which they would be limited to hearing a small number of original jurisdiction cases. The BATL Act would:

• Establish terms of 18 years during which the nine most recently-appointed Supreme Court justices participate in the Court’s full docket of cases.
• Establish regular appointments of Supreme Court justices in the first and third years following a presidential election.
• Allow all justices to hear cases in the Court’s “original jurisdiction” – a narrow category of disputes between states or foreign officials.
• Allow only the 9 most-recently appointed justices to hear appellate cases – cases decided by lower courts and appealed to the Supreme Court. The vast majority of cases heard by the Supreme Court are appellate cases, and the Constitution allows Congress to regulate and make exceptions to the Court’s “appellate jurisdiction.”
• Preserve life tenure by ensuring that justices who do not choose to retire after 18 years can still hear original jurisdiction cases and exercise other powers of the office.