Can Biden Get Supreme Court Reforms Passed Before End of Term?

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In keeping with his vow to reform the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden issued a plan calling for term limits for justices, a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity, and a “binding code of conduct” to replace the voluntary ethics guidelines established last year by the court. Biden assailed recent Supreme Court decisions and ethics scandals in a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post: “What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms,” he wrote. We’ll talk about Biden’s proposed reforms and which ones – if any – could be enacted before he leaves office. Guests: Olatunde C. Johnson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59 Professor of Law, Columbia Law School - She served on President Biden's Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court Philip Bump, national columnist, Washington Post - Bump is the author of "The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America" Jennifer Ahearn, Senior counsel, Brennan Center - Ahearn previously served as Policy Director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), where she led a team focused on government ethics and accountability Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator, Padilla sits on the Judiciary Committee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:40.8	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Scott Schaefer in for Alexis Madrigal.
0:58.0	Coming up on forum, President Biden yesterday called for three fundamental changes to the U.S. Supreme Court,
1:04.0	including term limits for justices, enforceable ethics guidelines, and a constitutional amendment,
1:10.0	declaring that no president gets immunity from breaking the law while in office.
1:14.6	The call comes following recent decisions upending decades of legal precedent, like the right to an abortion,
1:20.6	serious conflicts of interest some justices reportedly have, and a recent decision giving broad immunity to presidents for things like
1:29.1	trying to overturn the results of an election. We'll discuss the details of the proposal,
1:34.1	the political obstacles in the way, and the timing of Biden's call for reforms. That's next
1:38.7	after this news. Good morning and welcome to form. I'm Scott Schaefer in today for Alexis Madrigal.
1:48.1	And this hour, we're looking at calls by President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress to fundamentally reform the U.S. Supreme Court.
1:55.9	It comes as polls show the public losing faith in the court's fairness and independence from political
2:02.1	ideology, fueled in part by investigative reporting on lavish gifts bestowed on some justices,
	...

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