LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — A recent poll commissioned by The Detroit News and WDIV-TV (ClickOnDetroit) indicates that a substantial number of Michigan voters support imposing term limits on U.S. Supreme Court justices. According to the survey, 72% of likely voters favor term limits, with 58% expressing strong support. 

The poll, conducted by the Glengariff Group from July 22-24, surveyed 600 likely voters and reported a margin of error of ±4 percentage points. The sample included 41% Democrats, 40% Republicans, and 18% Independents.

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“This is a really powerful issue that really unites voters,” pollster Richard Czuba of the Glengariff Group told The Detroit News. “They don’t think you should be able to sit there for your entire life, and this certainly reflects that.”

Czuba emphasized that support for term limits crossed party lines, with Republicans showing the most opposition. 

Among base Republicans, the poll found that 53% favor term limits while 34% oppose them. Independent voters showed strong support at 69%, and Democrats were overwhelmingly in favor at 87%.

“This is support across the political spectrum with the strongest opposition to it coming from the Republican side, which is ironic given how much Republicans have been supportive of term limits in the past,” Czuba said. 

According to The Detroit News, the poll results were released before President Joe Biden proposed reforms for the Supreme Court, including 18-year term limits for justices and a “binding” ethics code. Currently, the Supreme Court is dominated by a 6-3 majority of conservative justices, all appointed by Republican presidents.

“Term limits would help ensure that the court’s membership changes with some regularity,” Biden said, as reported by The Washington Post. “That would make timing for court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary. It would reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come.”

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Biden’s proposal also comes amidst scrutiny of conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over “undisclosed gifts and luxury travel” from GOP donors, according to The Detroit News.

Despite the poll’s seemingly comprehensive results, the reaction online has been negative, with many X users questioning both the findings and the concept of term limits for Supreme Court justices.

One user said, “The Supreme Court isn’t supposed to be hindered by politics; this would force decisions to be made based on how long a justice has left in their term. The whole point of the balance of power is to keep the justices out of politics.” This sentiment was echoed by others who feared that term limits could undermine the court’s intended impartiality.

Many X respondents also called for term limits for Congress rather than the Supreme Court. Comments like, “Term limits for Congress too. I would back that only if Congress was limited to 2 terms for Senate and 4 for the House,” suggest a preference for legislative reforms over judicial ones. 

To this end, another X user commented: “Then they don’t understand the Constitution & the purpose of the Court. Court opinions are based upon prior case law. Law has continuity & stability. It isn’t based on ‘the current thing.’ Laws are changed with the legislative branch, not judicial but still must be constitutional.”

Others warned that implementing term limits could lead to a slippery slope of judicial interference. “The greatest threat to the rule of law, more than whether a judge should serve for ten years or for life, is when you start creating rules to constrain a court or to regulate a court because you don’t like the outcomes in particular cases. That’s when the rule of law is at greatest risk,” one X user said.

In addition to these X comments, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared Biden’s proposals “dead on arrival” in the GOP-controlled House, citing concerns over the balance of power and the rule of law. Former President Donald Trump has also opposed the reforms, framing them as an attempt to undermine the Supreme Court and the justice system.