‘Crisis of Ethics’: Biden Flags Concerns on Integrity and Independence of US Supreme Court

Washington:  President Joe Biden has said the US Supreme Court is mired in a "crisis of ethics", slamming its recent decisions on presidential immunity, as he raised serious questions on the integrity and independence of the American judiciary system.

Biden, 81, harshly criticised the apex court on Monday while delivering remarks at the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.

“On top of its extreme decisions, the court is mired in a crisis of ethics,” Biden said.

He said the Supreme Court "most recently and most shockingly” established a "dangerous precedent" in the former president Donald Trump versus the United States case.

“They ruled, as you know, that the president of the United States has immunity for potential crimes he may have committed while in office, immunity,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. It prolonged the delay in the criminal case against former president Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.

"Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority," the apex court had said in its judgement on July 1.

“This decision is a total affront to the basic expectations we have for those who wield the power in this nation, that they are expected to be wholly accountable under the law. The president is no longer constrained by the law, and only limits on abuse of power will be self-imposed by the president alone. That's a fundamentally flawed view and a fundamentally flawed principle, a dangerous principle,” Biden said.

“These scandals involving the justices have caused public opinion to question the court's fairness and independence, which are essential to faithfully carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law,” he said.

“Undisclosed gifts to justice are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy benefactors who have (an) interest before the very court they're contributing to. Conflict of interest from those connected to the January 6 insurrectionists and the blatant attack on nominating and confirming justices of the court itself,” he said.

Biden said he greatly respects institutions and the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution but underscored that what is happening now is not consistent with that doctrine of separation of powers.

“Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court's decisions,” Biden said as he called for three bold reforms in the judiciary.

“First, I'm calling for a constitutional amendment called 'No One is Above the Law Amendment'. It holds no immunity for crimes the former president committed while in office,” he said.

“The second thing I'm asking for ...I believe we should have term limits for Supreme Court justices of the United States as well. In fact, the United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in their high court,” he said amidst applause from the audience.

“Third, I'm calling for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court,” he said.

“Under the reform I propose, a justice would be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, recuse themselves in cases in which they or their spouses have a financial or other conflict of interest,” Biden said.

Addressing the current political climate, Biden said "extreme opinions" by the Supreme Court in recent years have "gutted" the Voting Rights Act. He decried the "extreme MAGA movement" and Trump's Project 2025, calling the court's ruling on presidential immunity "a dangerous precedent." Biden also traced his path of work as a young lawyer in the public defender's office to his election to the county council in 1970 and then an improbable election to the US Senate in 1972 at the age of 29. He recalled a group of Delaware officials encouraging him to run for the Senate, remembering that while former president Richard Nixon carried Delaware, "We won by a staggering 3,800 votes. I didn't know what the hell I was doing." On July 20, Biden announced his withdrawal from the American presidential elections. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee of the Democratic Party for the November 5 general elections. 

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