Brookings Institution Event Asks: Is There a Path Forward for Court Reform?

On January 25, the Brookings Institution held an event titled, “Is there a path forward for court reform?”. The purpose of the event was to discuss the Biden administration’s creation of a bipartisan commission to study the Supreme Court and federal judiciary.

The panelists who took part in the discussion were Daniel Epps, an Associate Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis; Christopher Kang, who is Co-founder and Chief Counsel at Demand Justice; Marin K. Levy, a Law Professor at Duke; and Molly E. Reynolds, a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies.

Attorney General to Former President Obama, Eric Holder, delivered keynote remarks at the beginning of the discussion and gave his take on how the court should be reformed. Specifically, he mentioned that federal judges should have term limits of no more than 18 years (3 Senate terms) so there is more structure in the appointment process.

Holder continued, “72% of Americans support term limits on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Furthermore, Holder explained that the minimum age to be a federal judge should be 50 years, to allow the judge enough life experience to make the right decisions. He also believes strongly in court expansion, especially by adding judges to lower courts, thus making the adjudication process more efficient. He says there should be greater diversity on the bench in terms of race, gender, and professional experience in order to restore balance and fairness to fix the federal judiciary.

The discussion then jumped to the group of panelists, moderated by Susan Hennessey, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. When discussing how politics influences the judiciary system, Kang explained that the political polarization of the U.S. is removing fairness and stability from the judicial system because he worries judges are starting to make choices based on party lines, rather than constitutionality. He mentioned the new norm of “strategic retirement,” when a judge retires intentionally so that a new judge from same party can replace them.

Finally, the group moved on to the topic of a bipartisan commission to focus on court reform.

Epps said that the most important aspect that will determine the success or failure of the commission will be its members. A diverse group of public defenders, women, people of color, and various other stakeholders will need to be part of the group, not just prosecutors and corporate lawyers. Levy added that the public should also be involved in the judge selection process to maintain accountability in courts.