Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sent a stern warning toward Joe Biden after the president recently laid out extreme reforms to the nation’s highest court.
Last week, Biden called for sweeping reforms to the Supreme Court, including term limits, a binding code of conduct for its nine justices and a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity.
In an interview with Fox News, Gorsuch requested the president exercise caution in how he goes forward, because the judiciary is meant to be an independent check on Biden’s office.
‘It’s there for the moments when the spotlight’s on you, when the government’s coming after you. And don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions? Isn’t that your right as an American?’ Gorsuch asked.
The Donald Trump-appointed justice then added: ‘And so I just say, be careful.’
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sent a stern warning toward Joe Biden after the president recently laid out extreme reforms to the nation’s highest court
Gorsuch, a part of the Republican majority on the 6-3 Supreme Court, also has expressed worry that Americans don’t appreciate what the court represents.
‘I´m not saying that there aren’t ways to improve what we have. I´m simply saying that we´ve been given something very special. It´s the envy of the world, the United States judiciary,’ he said.
Gorsuch is currently promoting his new book, ‘Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.
‘Too little law and we´re not safe, and our liberties aren´t protected. But too much law and you actually impair those same things.’
The 56-year-old justice was the first of three Supreme Court nominees of Trump, and they have combined to entrench a conservative majority that has overturned Roe v. Wade, ended affirmative action in college admissions, expanded gun rights and clipped environmental regulations aimed at climate change, as well as air and water pollution more generally.
Biden, citing ‘recent ethics scandals’ involving justices and high court rulings that ‘overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights’, has called on Congress to pass three major reforms in a bid to ‘restore trust and accountability’ in America’s democratic institutions.
The White House last week detailed the contours of Biden’s court proposal, noting how the Democrat believes ‘no one – neither the President nor the Supreme Court – is above the law’.
The President will officially propose the changes today during a speech in Austin, Texas, however his proposals appears to have little chance of being approved by a deeply-divided Congress with under 100 days to go before Election Day.
Last week, Biden called for sweeping reforms to the Supreme Court , including term limits, a binding code of conduct for its nine justices and a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity
In an interview to promote his new book, Gorsuch requested the president exercise caution in how he goes forward, because the judiciary is meant to be an independent check on Biden’s office
Regardless, Democrats hope Biden’s proposal will help to focus voters as they consider their choices in the tight presidential election.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has sought to frame her race against Republican former President Donald Trump as ‘a choice between freedom and chaos’.
Biden is calling for doing away with lifetime appointments to the court. He says Congress should pass legislation to establish a system in which the sitting president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in service on the court.
He argues term limits would help ensure that court membership changes with some regularity and adds a measure of predictability to the nomination process.
He also wants Congress to pass legislation establishing a code of ethics for justices that would require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.
Biden has also urged Congress to pass a constitutional amendment reversing the Supreme Court’s recent landmark immunity ruling that determined former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.
It comes after the Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president in a landmark decision recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
The decision extended the delay in the Washington criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and all but ended prospects the former president could be tried before the November election.
Biden’s push for reforms comes a week after Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Harris to square off against Republican presidential candidate Trump in November.
It also follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that there is no Constitutional right to abortion and other decisions that blocked Biden’s agenda on immigration, student loans, vaccine mandates and climate change.
