One of the character attributes most of us try to instill in our children is to accept loss gracefully…effectively, not to be sore losers.  We try and explain that while we might lose today, there is always hope that a more favorable outcome is in the offing if we persevere and work hard whether it be in sports or other endeavors. We also make sure they know that it is important that they adhere to the rules and stay within the guidelines that have been set as they strive for any result they might desire and that, despite their doing so, outcomes are not always guaranteed to be in their favor. Regardless, those outcomes should be respected as long as those making the determination of who wins or loses have done so based on their honest and objective assessment.

Unfortunately what we are witnessing today are attempts to impugn the referees charged with making judicial decisions by casting unproven, subjective aspersions upon their integrity and objectivity and using those aspersions as justification to impose new rules…simply because some of us do not like the decisions that have been reached.

President Biden’s proposal to enact term limits for Supreme Court justices in direct contradiction to the “good behavior” standard as set forth in our Constitution is an attempt to manipulate a long standing constitutional principle in order to hopefully favor more liberal and progressive views.  In effect, he wants justices who legislate from the bench as opposed to adjudicating whether laws passed by the legislature are constitutional…the principle of judicial review. This is not the first attempt to prevent justices from exercising their independence and judicial responsibility. Witness the failure of Biden’s DOJ to provide protection to the justices at their homes following the Dobbs decision…in direct violation of federal laws that explicitly outlaw the demonstrations and harassment of the justices that occurred.

The proposed introduction of term limits is being justified, in part, because term limits were imposed on the President in 1951. But the President is a political position while Supreme Court justices are, by design in the Constitution, apolitical…not swayed by fear or favoritism but by their informed understanding of the Constitution.

By introducing term limits the expectation is that some of the recent rulings on abortion and presidential immunity would not have come down as they have.  The fact is that the decision regarding presidential immunity is relatively neutral and, despite alarming assertions by Democrats, does not provide broad presidential immunity, except for official acts taken in office and then only presumptive immunity, which can be challenged in court. The specious example of a President ordering the assassination of a political rival being offered up by Biden as well as Justice Sotomayor is designed to gin up the base and has no basis in reality. And as for the Dobbs decision, even Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( a liberal hero) questioned the basis on which Roe vs Wade was decided and thought it stood a good chance of being overturned. She actually thought it was a decision best left to the states…which is exactly the decision rendered in Dobbs.

The bottom line test of judicial objectivity, apart from these lightening rod decisions, is what the result of the appointment process to date has been on the broad array of decisions by the court.

Over the course of the past 60 years, 28 Justices of the Supreme Court have been appointed…21 by Republican Presidents and 7 by Democratic Presidents. Five of the Justices appointed by Republican Presidents are considered swing votes (someone who does not necessarily vote along ideological lines), which leaves 16 presumed solid conservatives. Three of the Justices appointed by Democratic Presidents are considered swing voters leaving four (4) presumed solid liberals or progressives. What has been the affect on the decisions rendered?

Over the same 60 year period, the Court has handed down some 9,000 decisions. 

– Approximately 3,150 of those decisions were unanimous (9-0).

– Approximately 2,700 decisions were decided by the presumed Conservative majority. 

– Approximately 1,350 decisions were decided by the presumed Liberal majority.

– Approximately 1,800 decisions were decided by a Mixed majority. 

In summary, 55% of the cases handed down were not decided based on ideological lines, notwithstanding the fact that most Justices were appointed by Republican Presidents. Thirty percent (30%) were decided by a conservative majority. Fifteen percent (15%) were decided by a liberal majority.  Expressed another way…70% of the cases decided were to one degree or the next in alignment with liberal/progressive legal views versus 85% being in alignment with conservative legal views. That relatively small 15% point difference certainly speaks to the overall objectivity of the Justices regardless of who appointed them or their presumed personal political leanings.

Based on the above, Biden’s reactionary proposal to implement term limits based on two recent decisions will do nothing to make the Court more equitable. It will, however, make it more political and undermine the independence of the justices.

I know one thing for certain…if forced to choose between the wisdom of our Founding Fathers and the “sore loser“ mentality of our current Democratic political leaders in determining how the Supreme Court should operate I am all in for our Founding Fathers.