We Need Supreme Court Term Limits!
Petition to Congress:
We urge you to set Supreme Court term limits by passing the TERM Act. Regularizing Supreme Court appointments every two years will ensure a Supreme Court that is more representative of the nation, reflecting the choices of recently elected Presidents and Senators. Term limits for Supreme Court justices are an essential tool to restoring a constitutional balance to the three branches of the federal government.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court just issued a major anti-union decision that “risks erosion of the right to strike,” according to dissenting Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.1
The Court’s ruling today in Glacier v. Teamsters creates a new precedent that unions are responsible for financial damages incurred by an employer during a strike. This could profoundly limit workers’ ability to exercise their right to strike.2
This far-right Supreme Court has undermined our reproductive rights, environment protections, and now our most basic labor rights. Setting term limits for justices would help fix this corrupt Court. Under their current lifetime appointments, justices have been free to push their own extremist agendas without any accountability.
Congress has the power to end these lifetime terms and make the court the balanced, accountable institution it was meant to be.
"Make no mistake — this ruling has everything to do with giving companies more power to hobble workers if any attempt is made to fight back against a growing system of corruption,” explained Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien in a statement on the decision. He added that, despite the ruling, “The Teamsters will strike any employer, when necessary, no matter their size or the depth of their pockets. Unions will never be broken by this Court or any other.”3
The right-wing Supreme Court also severely undermined unions in the 2018 case Janus v AFSCME, which gutted public sector unions. In both Janus and today’s decisions, the Court ignored decades of precedent and simply implemented their own extremist agenda.
Congress must take action now to rein in this unaccountable Supreme Court. The TERM Act would set Supreme Court appointments at 18 years, and would ensure that each newly elected President is able to appoint two Justices. With each President able to select two justices, appointments would become predictable events, not embarrassing partisan spectacles.4
Lifetime appointments have put us in a position where our democracy and basic rights depend on the health of a few Justices who have been serving for decades. It’s time for Congress to pass Supreme Court term limits and restore legitimacy and independence to the nation's highest court.
Sources:
- Supreme Court of the United States, “Justice Jackson, dissenting,” June 1, 2023.
- NBC, “In blow to unions, Supreme Court rules company can pursue strike damage claim,” June 1, 2023.
- Teamsters, “O'Brien: SCOTUS Attacks All U.S. Workers,” June 1, 2023.
- In These Times, “The Supreme Court Needs Term Limits. Clarence Thomas Is Proof,” June 1, 2023.