Padilla Statement on President’s Plan to Reform the Supreme Court and Ensure No President Is Above the Law
Padilla to travel with President Biden to Texas for his remarks on Supreme Court reform proposal
AUSTIN, T.X. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on President Biden’s three proposed reforms to restore trust in and accountability for our judiciary, including 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices, a binding and enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court, and a constitutional amendment making clear that no President is above the law or immune from criminal prosecution:
“The reforms President Biden endorsed today would restore and reenforce our commitment that no one — not Members of Congress, not Supreme Court Justices, and not even current or past Presidents of the United States — is above the law in America.
“If the Supreme Court continues to undermine this basic tenet of our democracy and abuse the trust of the American people, then Congress must help restore that faith. By implementing my consistent calls for long overdue, commonsense term limits and a strict, enforceable ethics standard, we can help restore fairness to a judicial system that determines the fate of our most fundamental freedoms, from a woman’s right to choose to gun safety to civil rights.
“Let me be clear: the Supreme Court’s refusal to abide by an enforceable ethical code and its repeated decisions that abandon decades of precedent are politicizing the Court in a dangerous way. And because of this Court’s recent decision on presidential criminal immunity, we face the prospect of a president who has vowed to be a dictator on day one free to act with impunity and without fear of consequence. I urge my colleagues in Congress and my partners across the country to adopt these critical reforms as soon as possible. The fate of our democracy as we know it is at stake.”
Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in the Senate for improving transparency and accountability at the Supreme Court. Last year, Padilla joined Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in introducing the Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act to establish 18-year term limits and regularized appointments for Supreme Court justices. Earlier in the year, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, legislation Padilla cosponsored to require the justices to adopt a code of conduct, create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws, and improve disclosure and transparency at the Court. He also previously joined a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to question witnesses on judicial ethics and reforms needed in order to restore public confidence in the Supreme Court.
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