Casten Statement on SCOTUS Trump Immunity Decision
Downers Grove, IL — U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) has released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States:
“Today’s decision from the Supreme Court makes a mockery of our Constitutional promise of equal treatment under the rule of law. The court today protected the rights of the powerful at the expense of the powerless. They said affirmatively that the President of the United States is above the law provided that they, in their infinite wisdom, determine the President's actions to be 'official'.
“Our founders designed a government with three co-equal branches to act as checks on one another. While they may not have contemplated a Court that would act so brazenly to seize power from the other branches, they did give the other branches the ability to check the Court's excesses.
“Specifically, Article III Section 2 provides Congress with the authority to limit the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. I have introduced H.R. 642, the Restoring Judicial Separation of Powers Act, to exercise that authority and bring this out-of-control Court to heel. The times call for us to exercise all of our legitimate power to protect our democracy from these reactionary justices. To that end, I call on the Congress to swiftly consider this legislation"
In January 2023, Rep. Casten introduced the Restoring Judicial Separation of Powers Act. Text of the legislation can be found here and a summary can be found below.
To learn more about Rep. Casten’s democracy reform legislation, click here.
Summary of the Restoring Judicial Separation of Powers Act
- Restructures the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States to align with Article III of the Constitution
- Allows for any party to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to be heard and determined by a district court of three-judges.
- Creates a 13-judge multi-circuit panel to hear cases that the United States or a Federal agency is a party, cases concerning constitutional or statutory interpretation of Federal law, or cases clarifying the functions or actions of an executive order.
- This panel will consist of 1 judge randomly selected from each circuit court of appeals (minus the federal circuit) and 1 chief judge randomly selected from the same circuit courts of appeals.
- Each judge of the multi-circuit panel shall serve during the period beginning at 10amET on the first Monday in October and ending at 9:59amET on the first Monday in October of the following year.
- A supermajority of not less than 70% of judges shall be required to affirm any decision which holds that any Act of Congress is unconstitutional, unlawful, or otherwise invalid.
- Actions before a court of the United States seeking injunctive relief restraining the enforcement of any Federal statute, regulation or order against a nonparty will be transferred to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit.
- The Courts shall have the power to consolidate several cases concerning the same matter.
- The SCOTUS, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Multi-circuit panel will have to issue a written explanation supporting decisions which shall be published on the respective websites and must be signed by the judge or judges.
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