Bill: Vote SCR Term Limits Amendment Act

[ToadKing]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

AMEND THE CONSTITUTION




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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

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PART I — PRELIMINARIES​

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the 'SCR Term Limits Amendment Act'.

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by Speaker Kaiserin and Senator Omegabiebel.

(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by Rep. ToadKing and Senator Talion77.

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) To establish term limits for Supreme Court Justices to allow for fresh perspectives on the highest court after 6-month terms.

(2) To provide the President, and by extension the Commonwealth, with opportunities to shape the composition of the Supreme Court.

(3) To maintain judicial independence while ensuring accountability through intermittent reappointments.

PART II — AMENDMENTS​

3. Amendments

(1) Section 21 of the Constitution shall be amended as follows:

"21. Judicial Officers
They are responsible for presiding over and delivering unbiased verdicts in all lawsuits.

(1) Magistrates are appointed by the Supreme Court to serve on the District Court.

(a) A Magistrate may be removed by the Supreme Court at any time.

(2) Federal Court Judges, Supreme Court Justices, and the Chief Justice are nominated by the President and approved by a majority of the Senate.

(a) In the absence of a Chief Justice, the most senior Justice by combined tenure on the Supreme Court serves as default Chief Justice until otherwise provided.

(b) If no Justices are available on the Supreme Court, the President must nominate a Justice or Chief Justice within one week.

(3) Term Limits. Each Supreme Court Justice, including the Chief Justice, shall serve a term of 6 months from the date of their confirmation by the Senate.

(a) Upon the expiration of a Justice's term, the Justice will undergo reconfirmation by the Senate, in which they will be subject to a new confirmation hearing, and the Senate will vote on whether or not to reconfirm them.

(b) In order for a reconfirmation vote to fail, a supermajority of the Senate must vote nay.

(c) If a Justice is reconfirmed, they shall continue to serve another 6-month term from the date their reconfirmation passed.

(d) If a Justice is not reconfirmed, a new Justice must be nominated and confirmed by the Senate under the usual process. The previous Justice shall continue to serve until a new Justice is confirmed in their place.

(4) Qualifications for nomination:

(a) Chief Justice: 150 hours of total active playtime.

(b) Justice: 125 hours of total active playtime.

(c) Judge: 72 hours of total active playtime."

4. Transitional Provisions

(1) Upon the enactment of this amendment, the terms of current Supreme Court Justices shall be adjusted as follows:

(a) The Chief Justice's term shall expire 7 days from the date of enactment.

(b) The most senior Associate Justice (by time served since recent confirmation) shall have their term expire 2 months from the date of enactment.

(c) The least senior Associate Justice (by time served since recent confirmation) shall have their term expire 4 months from the date of enactment.

(2) Current Justices may be renominated and reconfirmed for new terms in accordance with this amendment.

 

[Kaiserin_]

Aye - While the original version of this bill contained major flaws in my opinion, I've worked with Rep. Toad to create something that I believe is ideal. It is clear to me that the SCR needs some method of regular review and limits on the time that any individual can serve in order to introduce accountability to the system. Requiring strong consensus in the Senate before a Justice can be removed, sending them immediately to reconfirmation without presidential involvement, and very long term lengths should serve to keep political meddling to an absolute minimum. My utmost priority is maintaining the independence of the Court, and I believe that this achieves greater judicial accountability without sacrificing that independence.

 

[Angryhamdog]

Aye - While I am admittedly nervous about this bill, I think the 2/3 supermajority in order for a failed reconfirmation is a fair compromise to the ever pestering question of 'How do we remove a [Judicial Officer] without making it a potential future political issue'.