By Jonah Marshall, Staff Opinions Writer
Under the US Constitution, there are three co-equal branches of government that have specific functions and duties, have various requirements for qualifications and ethics, and that are supposed to provide a system of checks 9as in the game of chess) and balances, so that one branch cannot have sole power over the other two.
As part of the Judicial branch, the Supreme Court has been treated like royalty for too long.
A constitutional amendment was introduced back in 2024 by former Senator Joe Manchin (I-West Virginia) and Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) aiming to change (or amend) the U.S. Constitution. Had it moved forward, it would have needed to be approved by two-thirds of the US House and Senate as well as three-fourths of the 50 states, or 38 states, to ratify the change. The rationale for proposing it as a constitutional amendment rather than a piece of legislation is that amendments cannot be challenged by lower courts.
The amendment calls for 18 year term-limits for all incoming justices, excluding the nine current justices.
Now, it seems unlikely for an amendment to be added, but a 2022 AP-NORC poll finds that 67% of Americans support the Supreme Court having term limits. From a party perspective 82% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans favor term limits. A 538 poll also shows that as of December 11, 2024 the court has a 41.4% approval rating.
This is all coming in after the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent abortion rights down to the states. After that decision was handed down, several states have moved to place extreme limits on when abortions can be conducted, and under what circumstances. States that have enacted these bans have seen challenges in court, but have also seen an increase in the number of women and fetuses dying due to pregnancy complications.
Also playing a factor is the scandals and seemingly unethical behaviors of Justices. Clarence Thomas for instance, failed to disclose millions of dollars worth of luxury gifts dealing with 38 destination vacations, 26 private plane rides, three homes purchased, and tuition being fully paid for his grandkids, all from conservative friend Harlan Crow. Thomas also failed to report on his taxes on a luxury RV paid for by Anthony Welters, and that he paid on a loan to Thomas. Thomas’ wife, Ginni, has also faced backlash for attending the January 6th insurrection, texts sent to former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows regarding overturning the 202 election, and asking several state election officials in Wisconsin and Arizona in 2020 to not certify the elections results due to alleged fraud, and to instead send a “clean slate of electors” to the Congress. After several recounts in both states, no significant evidence of fraud was discovered, and the 202o election was determined by multiple sources to be free and fair. Why is Ginni Thomas’ involvement a factor in her husband’s ethics? Justice on the Supreme Court generally recuse themselves from any case that is linked to their spouse of other close family members. Clarence Thomas refused to do so in any of the cases that involved rulings on the Jan. 6 insurrection. Here is what PBS reported on the ethical question in March 2022 regarding the Thomases.
Justice Samuel Alito has also been involved in a handful of scandals that include, but are not limited to Alito outside his home flying an upside-down American flag in 2021 as a “stop the steal” initiative that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, and fyling the Appeal to Heave flag outside their vacation home in July and September of 2023. As in the Thomas case involving the Jan. 6 insurrection, Alito has placed blame for flying the flags on his wife, and received requests in 2024 to recuse himself from cases before the Court surrounding Jan. 6. Also like Thomas, Alito refused to do so. Similar again to Thomas’s behavior, Alito also has not disclosed gifts relating to a fishing trip he went on with billionaire Paul Singer. Alito also wrote the majority opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, stating that the original case, Roe v. Wade, was decided incorrectly, that the 14th Amendment on which it was based did not offer privacy protections for a woman to make decisions about her own body, and that the right to regulate abortion was sent back to the states to regulate who, when, if, and where a woman could obtain a legal abortion. He largely based his decision on “original intent” of the 14th Amendment.
With the scandals and American voters views on the court itself, adding an amendment to the US Constitution may receive great enthusiasm from people of both respected parties, and may bring a divided country slightly more together on an issue that is important to both parties.
One other initiative that could be taken to try and fix the court is to revisit the 1978 Ethics in Government Act signed by Jimmy Carter. This makes it mandatory for government officials to disclose financial gifts. This does not apply to the Supreme Court, but if we revisit it and include the Supreme Court that may help restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. As evidence above in the linked stories and video, the Supreme Court is not subject to the same ethics rules that all other federal judges are required to follow. Though all nine justices signed on to a Code of Ethics in November 2023, there is no enforcement mechanism to hold the justices accountable to the code, and they are to be self-regulating, seemingly defeating the purpose of sign a Code of Ethics in the first place.
