117 S4706 IS: Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2022 U.S. Senate 2022-08-02 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II117th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 4706IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESAugust 2, 2022Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schatz, and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the JudiciaryA BILLTo amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the duration of active service of the Chief Justice of the United States and associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2022.

2.

Supreme Court terms of office

(a)

In general

Chapter 1 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

7.

Appointment

(a)

Regular appointment of justices

The President shall, during the first and third years after a year in which there is a Presidential election, nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a Chief Justice of the United States or an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.(b)

Exclusive method of appointment

The President shall not appoint any Chief Justice of the United States or associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States except as provided in this section.

8.

Duration of Active Service

(a)

New justices

A Chief Justice of the United States or an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States shall serve in regular active service for an 18-year period beginning on the date of the commission of the Chief Justice or associate justice, after which the justice shall be deemed to have retired from regular active service under section 371.(b)

Current justices

Each Chief Justice of the United States and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who was appointed before the date of enactment of this section and who is serving as the Chief Justice or associate justice, as applicable, on the date of enactment of this section shall, notwithstanding the period of service of the justice, in order of duration of service beginning with the justice who has served on the Supreme Court of the United States for the longest period of time, be deemed to have retired from regular active service under section 371(b) upon the date of commission of each new Chief Justice or associate justice, as applicable, as they are appointed under section 7.

.(b)

Clerical amendment

The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:7. Appointment8. Duration of Active Service.

3.

Senior justices

Section 294 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—(1)in subsection (d), by inserting , except as provided by subsection (e) before the period at the end;(2)by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and(3)by inserting after subsection (d) the following:(e)If number of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States falls below that provided in section 1 due to vacancy, disability, or disqualification, the Chief Justice or associate justice of the Supreme Court who has most recently retired from regular active service under section 371 but retained their office shall serve as an associate justice until the number of justices who have not retired from regular active service equals that provided in section 1..