Per AI (Gemini). Take with appropriate grains of salt:
Several Supreme Court reforms, including enacting 18-year term limits via a senior justice model, changing the number of justices, implementing binding ethics codes, and regulating jurisdiction, can be achieved by Congress through legislation rather than a constitutional amendment.
These statutory changes are possible because the Constitution gives Congress authority over the Court's size, procedures, and lower-court structure.
Key Reform Options Without Amendment
Term Limits (18-Year Terms): Congress could pass a law (like the proposed TERM Act) creating 18-year active terms, after which justices move to a "senior" status to hear lower-court cases, satisfying the "good behaviour" clause of Article III.
Court Expansion (Changing the Size): Congress has the power to change the number of justices, which has varied from 5 to 10 throughout history, currently set at 9.
Binding Code of Ethics: Congress can legislate a binding code of conduct, requiring recusal in cases of conflicts of interest.
Jurisdiction Stripping: Congress can limit the types of cases the Supreme Court can hear, removing specific political or social issues from their docket.
Regularized Appointments: Legislation could structure appointments so each president fills two seats per term, reducing political warfare over vacancies.
Emergency Docket Reform: Congress could regulate how the Court handles emergency requests (the "shadow docket" ).
Implementation Strategies:
Legislative Action: Congress uses its statutory authority to alter the judiciary's structure.
Senior Justice Model: This allows for term limits by keeping justices on the federal bench in a reduced, senior capacity, which the Brennan Center for Justice highlights as constitutional.
Code of Conduct Legislation: Addressing ethics through statute rather than internal court rules.
For more in-depth analysis on the legal standing of these proposals, the
Harvard Law Review provides a detailed overview of the arguments surrounding reform.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/supreme-court-term-limits
https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/FJS%20policy%20paper_Structural%20Reforms%20for%20the%20SCOTUS%20%281%29.pdf
https://washingtondc.jhu.edu/news/four-legal-experts-judge-supreme-court-reforms/
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