Dem Senator Accuses SCOTUS Of ‘Abuse of Power,’ Calls For Term Limits On Justices
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) gave up the game on MSNBC saying that she wants to put term limits on Supreme Court justices because the court is abusing its power. Specifically she cited the abuse of the shadow docket to back up her claims for ‘court reform.’
Hirono said: “A lot of people don’t know what the shadow docket is. I think we’ll be hearing from scholars as to the abuse of the shadow docket by this Supreme Court because they’ve used the shadow docket to do the thing they just did, basically to overturn Roe v. Wade, 28 times in the Trump years and only four during the entire times of Bush and Obama.
“So there is in my view the abuse of power of the shadow docket and what’s going to happen probably is more calls for court reform.
“We’re going to do everything we can to codify Roe v. Wade at the federal level.
“But also at the state level because it’s the state legislators that are very busy, passing hundreds and hundreds of abortion limiting laws across the country and that is why people need to vote.
“They need to have legislators who are going to impose these kinds of draconian laws on women across the country, creating chaos, fear, chilling effect.
“We see what’s happening in Texas already.
“Why should anyone have lifetime appointments to any job?
“Therefore as part of the hearing on the shadow docket, I think there will be calls for term limits on the Supreme Court.
“I would support that kind of debate and discussion.
“We need court reform.
“It could term limits by increasing the number of justices on the court.
“It definitely means applying ethical standards.”
The MSNBC host said, “ Would you support term limits itself?”
Hirono said” “I would because, as I say, who gets a lifetime appointment or job security for anything?
“Why should the court be exempted? That’s been my view for a while.
We should have a debate on it,” she said.
The Supreme Court's abuse of power in using the shadow docket to in effect end Roe is one in a series of rulings from right-wing, activist justices. We need court reform. pic.twitter.com/Fi4lNubU6q
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) September 4, 2021
By deputizing anti-abortion activists as bounty hunters, Texas Republicans have in effect banned abortion in Texas. The Supreme Court just gave the green light to this law, fulfilling a decades-long Republican quest to control women's bodies. Fight back. https://t.co/gf7FjtzGkF
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) September 1, 2021