Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse speaking in St. Petersburg on Sept. 14, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry / Florida Phoenix)
Large majorities of Americans favor term limits, a mandatory retirement age, and a formal ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a public opinion survey released last week.
That doesn’t surprise Rhode Island Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has filed two bills to attempt to reform the high court.
“People support it intensely,” Whitehouse told the Phoenix on Saturday in St. Petersburg about legislation he has introduced in the Senate.
One of those measures would require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct for justices, establish procedures to receive and investigate complaints of judicial misconduct, and adopt rules governing disclosure of gifts, travel, and income received by the justices.
Whitehouse introduced the measure following published reports of justices such as Clarence Thomas being provided undisclosed gifts such as private jet trips and luxury vacations.
His other bill would impose 18-year term limits on justices, who would be appointed every two years.
“I’ve got two bills,” Sheldon said. “One is a required ethics code that actually has really basic stuff in it, like finding out what the facts are and making a determination whether those facts meet the ethics code or not. Pretty basic stuff. So, I think that we can accomplish that.
“My other bill is term limits. And that will help refresh the court and it will also take away the political incentive that justices have to strategically stage their retirement so that a seat stays appointed by their party.”
Bipartisan support
According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Constitution Day Civics Survey of about 1,600 adults released last week, 77% support the creation of a formal ethics code for Supreme Court justices that allow for them to be investigated if accused of an ethical violation. Another 69% support requiring justices to retire by a set age, and 68% support setting a specific number of years for justices to serve instead of granting them lifetime appointments.
“It is very, very widely supported; both the ethics requirement and the term limits have huge public support. Republicans, independents, and Democrats,” Whitehouse said.
Republicans in Congress haven’t shown much support, however, and most were dismissive when President Joe Biden discussed reforming the Supreme Court earlier this summer.
DeSantis’ take
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in July that he would accept term limits and a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, but only if something similar were passed for members of Congress.
“If they’re willing to support term limits for members of Congress, that would be a trade that I would make,” he told reporters at a news conference in Tampa.
The governor went on to say that he understood why Democrats have a problem with the court, since it comprises six conservatives and just three liberal members. But he cautioned that such a scenario could change quickly.
“You think you’re doing it because you think that it will help generate more liberal jurisprudence and, in reality, a lot of times it backfires. It may end up if you had 18 years, that it would force liberals off the bench, and then maybe a Republican would be able to replace [them], so you just don’t know how that’s going to shake out.”
Fewer than half of Americans (47%) express a favorable view of the court, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in July, while about half (51%) have an unfavorable view.
The Supreme Court’s popularity ranges wildly, depending on political affiliation. Just 24% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents view the Supreme Court favorably, according to the survey. That is unchanged since last year and ties the court’s lowest favorable rating from either party in more than 30 years.
As recently as 2021 – before the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned the federal right to abortion – nearly two-thirds of Democrats had a favorable impression of the Supreme Court.
By contrast, 73% of Republicans view the court favorably, according to the Pew survey.
Whitehouse spoke to the Phoenix immediately after concluding a roundtable discussion with local elected officials, environmental experts, and local citizens about how climate change is boosting property insurance rates in Florida. He held similar discussions over the weekend in Orlando and Miami.