A group of 33 Supreme Court experts have proposed changes in the high court, including regular appointment of justices, a seven-year limit on the chief justice’s term, and involvement of appellate judges in the selection of cases to be heard, the National Law Journal reports. The group, including law professors, former state supreme court justices and lawyers, said it is time for Congress to reconsider the law applicable to the Supreme Court, “a subject it appears not to have seriously considered for at least 70 years.”
The proposals grew out conversations over a period of years, said Duke law Prof. Paul Carrington. The proposals, he says, “have one background thought — the Supreme Court has gotten a little too big for its britches and it would be good for Congress to enact a law or two that says, ‘You’re part of an enterprise that we have some power over.’ ” The group notes that Congress has given “scant attention” to the role and structure of the third branch since the “Court-packing” proposal of 1937.