Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi Backs Legislation to Impose Term Limits on Supreme Court Justices, Restore Credibility and Balance to Court

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi joined Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) in cosponsoring the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act. This legislation would implement term limits of 18 years for each Supreme Court Justice and would allow a president to appoint a new justice every two years, thereby restoring faith and legitimacy in the Supreme Court, while also preserving the constitutional protections of judicial independence.

“Faith and trust in the Supreme Court are broken, and this legislation will begin to tackle the partisanship, politicization, and scandal that have plagued the court over the past few years,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “Imposing term limits on justices and allowing each president, regardless of party, to appoint two justices per presidential term, will help ensure one president cannot stack our nation’s highest court for generations. It’s time we restore trust in our judicial system and democratic institutions by passing the TERM Act.”

The TERM Act would:

• Establish terms of 18 years in regular active service for Supreme Court justices, after which justices who retain the office will assume senior status;
• Require current justices to assume seniority status in order of length of service on the Court;
• Establish regular nominations of Supreme Court justices in the first and third year following a presidential election as the sole means of Supreme Court appointments;
• Require a randomly-selected senior status Supreme Court justice to fill in on the Court if the number of justices in regular service drops below nine; and
• 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; 

The bill is supported by: Get Money Out -- Maryland, Center for Popular Democracy, American Humanist Association, Rise , End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund, People Power United, True North Research, Indivisible Santa Fe, Reproaction, Stand Up America, People For the American Way, Indivisible, Blue Future, Demand Justice, DemCast USA, Reproductive Rights Coalition, Newtown Action Alliance, Secure Elections Network, Center for Common Ground, Public Citizen, Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), March For Our Lives, National Council of Jewish Women Minnesota, People's Parity Project, Alliance for Justice, Take Back The Court. 

The full text of the bill can be found here.