Justice Neil Gorsuch responded to President Joe Biden’s proposal for sweeping reforms to the Supreme Court in an interview that aired Sunday, telling Biden to “be careful.”
Asked by Fox News’ Shannon Bream to respond to Biden’s proposal, Gorsuch told her, “You’re not going to be surprised that I’m not going to get into what is now a political issue during a presidential election year. I don’t think that would be helpful.”
But the justice added that to Americans, the independent judiciary “means that when you’re unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution. If you’re in the majority, you don’t need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights. You’re popular.”
The judicial system is “there for the moments when, when the spotlight’s on you, when the government’s coming after you, and don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions?” Gorsuch added.
“And so I just say, be careful,” he concluded.
Last month, Biden traveled to Texas, where he announced a set of proposed Supreme Court reforms that would impose mandatory ethics rules for the court and term limits on justices.
The proposals aren’t likely to be implemented before Biden’s term ends, but they signal a policy goal for Democrats as several Supreme Court justices have come under increased scrutiny in the last few years.
Last year, ProPublica reported on a series of expensive gifts and trips Justice Clarence Thomas took with billionaire Harlan Crow.
Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, also faced scrutiny for her role in trying to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.
And earlier this year, Justice Samuel Alito and his wife were at the center of controversy regarding a two flags flown at their homes: one “Appeal to Heaven” flag and one upside-down American flag. Both are symbols used by Trump supporters and were flown during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Alito has denied that the flags had anything to do with Trump, instead saying that the upside-down American flag was flown at his home during a dispute between his wife and their neighbors.
