Gorsuch defends having ‘independent judiciary’ amid Biden’s Supreme Court term limits proposal

SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly pressed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch about his views on President Joe Biden‘s proposal to enforce term limits on Supreme Court justices.

Gorsuch began his answer with a caveat that he would not be “going to get into specifics” of any policy proposals “by politicians in an election year.”

“We should all recognize what gifts we are given in our Constitution,” Gorsuch said to Kelly. “And one of them is the independent judiciary. And why do we care? Why does that exist?”

He then gave the example of how a “popular person” may “not need a judge or jury” because they will be protected by the majority.

“But what happens when someone sues you? What happens when the government has you in their crosshairs?” he said, adding examples of people in high-profile legal cases.

“I think, then, that you want what James Madison wanted for you and what our founders wanted for you and the men who signed that declaration wanted for you,” the justice explained.

“You want someone who is a fiercely independent judge who isn’t beholden to politicians and will decide your case fairly under law and you want a jury of your peers to hear that case,” he argued.

He concluded that this is “a part of our constitutional heritage.”

The Over Ruled author shared stories from his new book about what he and his colleagues really talk about behind closed doors and their friendship.

He also shared how as a lawyer, he loves laws but remarked about how some laws during the COVID-19 pandemic were overreaching and making lives harder.

Gorsuch said the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump made him “deeply concerned with the state of our public discourse.”

He believes we need to learn “civility” and encourage learning “civics” in the classroom.

“I think one of the things that can kind of help us get there is maybe just learning a little civics again,” he told Kelly. “We need to learn civility all over, but we also need to learn how our government works and how we can make change through it.”

“They are not teaching civics anymore in our schools. There are only six states that have a full-year civics curriculum in high school,” he explained. “We have college students who can’t name the three branches of government, and 60% of Americans apparently would fail the citizenship exam. … And that exam is not difficult.”

Biden had published a Washington Post op-ed last week previewing his plans to “reform the Supreme Court” and claimed there was “extremism” on the court.