Congressional Democrats Introduce Bill to Impose SCOTUS Term Limits
In response to recent high-profile decisions related to abortion, guns, and religion, congressional Democrats introduced a bill that would impose 18-year active term limits on Supreme Court justices.

Under the bill, presidents would appoint a new justice every two years, in the first and third years after a presidential election, and each new justice would serve for 18 years before being moved to senior status. The nine justices currently on the Court, meanwhile, would switch to senior status, in order based on their length of service, as new justices are confirmed. If the number of sitting justices ever fell below nine, the justice who most recently moved to senior status would temporarily resume active service.

“With all the harmful and out-of-touch rulings from the Supreme Court this last year, legislation creating 18-year terms for justices is essential,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a cosponsor of the bill, in a press release.

The bill’s introduction follows a poll, conducted the week after the Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, that found 67 percent of respondents favored term limits, including 82 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans.


Progressive Groups Urge Senate Democrats to Move Faster on Biden’s Judicial Nominees
Progressive groups, concerned Republicans will win back control of the Senate in November, have called on Senate Democrats to cancel the Senate’s four-week August recess to hold more hearings and confirmation votes on President Biden’s judicial nominees.

In July, 62 progressive groups sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging him to confirm all nominees who have received a Senate Judiciary Committee vote before August or postpone the Senate’s recess. Demand Justice, a progressive advocacy group, and Indivisible Chicago Alliance, a local progressive group, also spent six figures on digital ads urging Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) to schedule more hearings in August.

Although Republicans held hearings over Democrats’ objections in 2018 for Trump’s judicial nominees during a scheduled October recess, Durbin has said that canceling the summer recess is “not going to happen,” and he is instead negotiating to “find a reasonable way to schedule more nominees.”

According to the American Constitution Society, Senate Democrats have confirmed 75 of Biden’s judicial nominees as of August 3, and 53 nominees are still awaiting confirmation.


Chief Judge DiFiore Resigns From New York’s Highest Court

On July 28, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore officially announced her retirement from the New York Court of Appeals, effective August 31.


According to Law360, the seven-member court has failed to pick an acting chief judge to serve until DiFiore’s successor is sworn in, despite having met twice to do so. Traditionally, the next most senior judge on the court would be chosen — in this case, Judge Jenny Rivera. However, Rivera and DiFiore have been described as “ideological rivals.” Rivera has also been banned from entering the courthouse because she is not vaccinated, though she recently said she will get the Novavax vaccine.


DiFiore, a former Republican, was appointed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015 and has been described as the leader of the court’s four-member “conservative bloc.” Several lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to pick a more liberal replacement or a former public defender or legal aid attorney. (DiFiore is one of four former prosecutors on the bench, and there are no past public defenders.)


The New York Commission on Judicial Nominations has until November 26 to submit a shortlist of candidates to Hochul, whose pick must be confirmed by the state senate.
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