Wikipedia

1. President[edit]

America's first president, George Washington, started the tradition of informal presidential term limits by refusing to run for a third term (originally he claimed he did not want to run in the first place, much less for a second term). The short-lived Confederate States of America adopted a six-year term for their president and vice-president and barred the president from seeking reelection. That innovation was endorsed by many American politicians after the American Civil War, most notably by Rutherford B. Hayes in his inaugural address.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (president 1933 - 1945) was the first and only American president to break Washington's tradition successfully. He died in office a few months after starting his fourth term. This gave rise to a successful move in Congress to formalize the traditional two-term limit by amending the U.S. Constitution. As ratified in 1951, the Twenty-Second Amendment provides that "no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice".

2. Congress[edit]

Letter from Senator Orrin Hatch, first elected in 1976, expressing reservations regarding term limits (dated February 10, 2011)

Reformers during the early 1990s used the initiative and referendum to put congressional term limits on the ballot in 24 states. Voters in eight of these states approved the congressional term limits by an average electoral margin of two to one.[26] It was an open question whether states had the constitutional authority to enact these limits. In May 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995), that states cannot impose term limits upon their federal Representatives or Senators.

In the 1994 elections, part of the Republican platform included legislation for term limits in Congress. After winning the majority, a Republican congressman brought a constitutional amendment to the House floor that proposed limiting members of the Senate to two six-year terms and members of the House to six two-year terms.[27] However, this rate of rotation was so slow (the life-tenured Supreme Court averages in the vicinity of twelve years) that the congressional version of term-limits garnered little support among the populist backers of term limits, including U.S. Term Limits, the largest private organization pushing for congressional term limits.[28][citation needed] The bill got only a bare majority (227–204), falling short of the two-thirds majority (290) needed for constitutional amendments.[29] Three other term limit amendment bills failed to get more than 200 votes.[30]

Defeated in Congress and overridden by the Supreme Court, the federal term limit uprising was brought to a halt. The term limits intended simultaneously to reform state legislatures (as distinguished from the federal congressional delegations) remain in force, however, in fifteen states.[31][32]

In 2007 Larry J. Sabato revived the debate over term limits by arguing in A More Perfect Constitution that the success and popularity of term limits at the state level suggests that they should be adopted at the federal level as well. He specifically put forth the idea of congressional term limits and suggested a national constitutional convention be used to accomplish the amendment, since the Congress would be unlikely to propose and adopt any amendment that limits its own power.

Some state legislators have also expressed their opinions on term limits. It is confirmed that in the following five states—and there may be others—state lawmakers approved resolutions asking Congress to propose a federal constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms which members of Congress may serve:

3. (designated as POM-42 in the U.S. Senate) approved in 1989, South Dakota House Joint Resolution No. 1001 (see Congressional Record of April 4, 1989, at pages 5395 and 5396, with verbatim text provided); 4. (designated as Memorial 400 in the U.S. House of Representatives) approved in 1990, Hawaii Senate Resolution No. 41—unicameral only (see Congressional Record of September 28, 1998, at page 22655) it took 8 years for this resolution to find its way into the Congressional Record and to be correctly referred to the Committee on the Judiciary—and even then, its text was not provided in the Congressional Record); back in 1990, Hawaii's S.R. No. 41 was indeed received by the U.S. House of Representatives, and was designated as Memorial 416, (Congressional Record of June 6, 1990, at pages 13262 and 13263) but the resolution was erroneously referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce—and its text is NOT provided in the Congressional Record; 5. Legislature (designated as POM-644 in the U.S. Senate) approved in 1990, Utah Senate Joint Resolution No. 24 (see Congressional Record of September 27, 1994, at page 26033, with verbatim text provided) it took four years for this resolution to find its way into the U.S. Senate's portion of the Congressional Record; 6. Legislature (designated as Memorial 401 in the U.S. House of Representatives) approved in 1992, Joint Memorial No. 116 (see Congressional Record of April 29, 1992, at page 9804—text NOT provided in the Congressional Record); and 7. (designated as POM-122 in the U.S. Senate) approved in 2012, Florida House Memorial No. 83 (see Congressional Record of July 25, 2012, at page S5378, with verbatim text provided). Taking matters a bit further, on February 10, 2016, Florida lawmakers approved House Memorial No. 417 calling upon Congress, pursuant to Article V of the Federal Constitution, to assemble a Convention to prepare a constitutional amendment that would establish term limits upon members of Congress. 8. Supreme Court[edit]

Legal scholars have discussed whether or not to impose term limits on the Supreme Court of the United States. Currently, Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life “during good behaviour”. A sentiment has developed, among certain scholars, that the Supreme Court may not be accountable in a way that is most in line with the spirit of checks and balances.[33] Equally, scholars have argued that life tenure has taken on a new meaning in a modern context.[34] Changes in medical care have markedly raised life expectancy and therefore has allowed Justices to serve for longer than ever before.[33][34] Steven G. Calebresi and James Lindgren, professors of law at Northwestern University, argued that, because vacancies in the court are occurring with less frequency and justices served on average, between 1971 and 2006, for 26.1 years, the “efficacy of the democratic check that the appointment process provides on the Court’s membership” is reduced.[33] There have been several similar proposals to implement term limits for the nation’s highest court, including Professor of Law at Duke University, Paul Carrington’s 2005 “The Supreme Court Renewal Act of 2005”.[35]

Many of the proposals center around a term limit for Justices that would be 18 years (Larry Sabato, Professor of Political Science at University of Virginia, suggested between 15 and 18 years).[33][34][35][36] The proposed staggered term limits of 18 years would, according to Calebresi, Lindgren (2006), and Carrington (2005), allow for a new appointment to the Court every two years, which in effect would allow every president at least two appointments.[34][35] Professor Carrington has argued that such a measure would not require a constitutional amendment as the "Constitution doesn’t even mention life tenure; it merely requires that justices serve during ‘good behaviour’ ”.[34] The idea was not without support among Judges, as John Roberts supported term limits before he was appointed to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice. Calebresi, Lingren, and Carrington have also proposed that when justices have served out their proposed 18-year term they should be able to sit on other Federal Courts until retirement, death, or removal.[33][34]

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll measured American voters’ attitudes towards various proposed Supreme Court reforms, including implementing term limits. The 2010 poll found that a majority of Americans were largely unaware of a proposal to impose a term limit of 18 years, as 82% reported they had heard little or nothing at all.[37] Notwithstanding a lack of awareness, 52% of Americans approved of limiting terms to 18 years, while 35% disapproved.[37] When asked how old is too old for a Supreme Court judge to serve if he or she seems healthy, 48% said “no limit as long as he or she is healthy”, while 31% agreed that anyone over the age of 70 is too old.[37]

Some state lawmakers have officially expressed to Congress a desire for a federal constitutional amendment to limit terms of Supreme Court justices as well as of judges of federal courts below the Supreme Court level. While there might be others, below are three known examples:

 In 1957, the adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 47 on the subject (appearing in the U.S. Senate's portion of the Congressional Record on July 3, 1957, at page 10863, with full text provided); 1. In 1978, the Tennessee General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution No. 21 on the subject (designated as POM-612 by the U.S. Senate and quoted in full in the Congressional Record of April 25, 1978, at page 11437); and 2. In 1998, the Louisiana House of Representatives adopted House Resolution No. 120 on the subject (designated as POM-511 by the U.S. Senate and quoted in full in the Congressional Record of July 17, 1998, at page 16076). 9. State term limits[edit]

See also: Comparison of State Governments

Term limits for state officials have existed since colonial times. The Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties of 1682, and the colonial frame of government of the same year, both authored by William Penn, provided for triennial rotation of the provincial council—the of the colonial legislature.[38] The Delaware Constitution of 1776 limited the governor to a single three- year term; currently, the governor of Delaware can serve two four-year terms.

At present, 36 states have term limits of various types for their governors. To circumvent the term limit in Alabama incumbent governor George Wallace pushed through the nomination of his wife Lurleen, in the 1966 Democratic primary, which was, in those days, the real contest in Alabama. It was generally understood that Mrs. Wallace would only be a titular governor while her husband continued to hold the real power. She won the election, but only served 17 months before dying in 1968.

As indicated above, in fifteen state legislatures the members serve in rotation, i.e., under term limits enacted during the reforms of the early 1990s. In another six states, however, state legislatures have either overturned their own limits or state supreme courts have ruled such limits unconstitutional. In 2002 the became the first legislature of its kind to repeal its own term limits, enacted by a public vote in 1994, ostensibly because it applied to local officials along with the legislature.

10. Gubernatorial term limits[edit]

United States Governor Term Limits as of 2014 No limit Two; re-eligible after 4 years No limit, two-year terms Two; eligible 8 out of 12 years One; re-eligible after 4 years Two; eligible 8 out of 16 years Two, absolute

Governors of 36 states and 4 territories are subject to various term limits, while the governors of 14 states, Puerto Rico, and the Mayor of Washington, D.C., may serve an unlimited number of times. Each state's gubernatorial term limits are prescribed by its state constitution, with the exception of Wyoming, whose limits are found in its statutes. Territorial term limits are prescribed by its constitution in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Organic Acts in Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and by statute in American Samoa.

Unique in its restriction, Virginia prohibits its governors from succeeding themselves, although former governors are re-eligible after four years out of office.[39] Many other states formerly had this prohibition, but all had eliminated it by 2000.

The governors of the following states and territories are limited to two consecutive terms, but are re-eligible after four years out of office: Alabama,[40] Alaska,[41] Arizona,[42] Colorado,[43] Florida,[44] Georgia,[45] Hawaii,[46] Kansas,[47] Kentucky,[48] Louisiana,[49] Maine,[50] Maryland,[51] ,[52] New Jersey,[53] New Mexico,[54] North Carolina,[55] Ohio,[56] Pennsylvania,[57] Rhode Island,[58] South Carolina,[59] South Dakota,[60] Tennessee,[61] West Virginia,[62] American Samoa,[63] Guam,[64] and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[65] Equivalently, the Governors of Indiana[66] and Oregon[67] are limited to serving 8 out of any 12 years. Conversely, the Governors of Montana[68] and Wyoming[69] are restricted to two terms, limited to serving 8 out of any 16 years. Finally, the governors of the following states and territory are absolutely limited (for life) to two terms: Arkansas,[70] California,[71] Delaware,[72] Michigan,[73] Mississippi,[74] Missouri,[75] ,[76] the Northern Mariana Islands,[77] and Oklahoma.[78] The current Governor of California (Jerry Brown) is, however, serving a fourth term because his first two terms were before limits were passed in California, and the limits did not apply to individuals' prior terms. The Governors of New Hampshire and Vermont may serve unlimited two-year terms. The chief executives in the following states, district, and territory may serve unlimited four-year terms: Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The Governor of Utah was formerly limited to serving three terms, but all term limit laws have since been repealed by the legislature.

11. State legislatures with term limits[edit]

The following 15 legislatures have term limits:

 Arizona Legislature: four consecutive two-year terms for both houses (eight years). No limit on total number of terms.  Arkansas General Assembly: sixteen years total in either the House or the Senate. (Prior to the 2014 election, the previous limits of three two-year terms for House members (six years) and two four-year terms for Senate members (eight years) applied).  California State Legislature: twelve years total in either Assembly or Senate. (For legislators first elected on or before June 5, 2012, the previous limits (enacted in 1990) of either three two-year terms for Assembly members (six years) and two four-year terms for Senate members (eight years) apply).  Colorado General Assembly: four consecutive two-year terms in the House (eight years) and two consecutive four-year terms in the Senate (eight years).  Florida Legislature: may serve no more than eight consecutive years in either house. No limit on total number of terms.  Louisiana State Legislature: three consecutive four-year terms for both houses (twelve years).  : four two-year terms for both houses (eight years). No limit on total humber of terms  : three two-year terms for House members (six years) and two four- year terms for Senate members (eight years).  Missouri General Assembly: four consecutive two-year terms for House members (eight years) and two four-year consecutive terms for Senate members (eight years). Members may be elected again to the other house, but not serve more than 16 years.  Montana State Legislature: four two-year terms for House members (eight years) in any sixteen-year period and two four-year terms for Senate members (eight years) in any sixteen-year period.  : unicameral legislature; members limited to two consecutive four- year terms (eight years), after which they must wait four years before running again.[79]  : six two-year terms for Assembly members (twelve years) and three four-year terms for Senate members (twelve years).  : four consecutive two-year terms for House members (eight years) and two consecutive four-year terms for Senate members (eight years).  : six two-year terms for House members (twelve years) and three four-year terms for Senate members (twelve years). Once term-limited in one house, a legislator cannot be elected to the other.  South Dakota Legislature: four consecutive two-year terms for both houses (eight years).

12. Overturned or repealed state legislative term limits[edit] The following six legislatures have had their term limits nullified:

 Idaho Legislature: the Legislature repealed its own term limits in 2002.  Massachusetts General Court: the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned term limits in 1997.  Oregon Legislative Assembly: the Oregon Supreme Court ruled term limits unconstitutional in 2002. See term limits in Oregon.  : the Legislature repealed its own term limits in 2003.  Washington State Legislature: the Washington Supreme Court voided term limits in 1998.  : the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled term limits unconstitutional in 2004. See term limits in Wyoming. 13. Municipal term limits[edit]

Some local governments have term limits. In Philadelphia, the mayor cannot be elected three consecutive times, but there is no limit on how long any individual can serve as mayor. Frank Rizzo was elected mayor in 1971 and 1975; he attempted to repeal the term limit, but failed and could not run in 1979. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1983 but he lost to Wilson Goode. In 1986, he switched to the Republican Party, and ran as a Republican in the mayoral elections of 1987 and 1991.

Limits vary from city to city even within the same state. For example, Houston, Texas, has a limit of 2 four-year terms (prior to November 3, 2015, 3 two-year terms dating back to 1991), while San Antonio, Texas, has a limit of 4 two-year terms. Both Houston and San Antonio's term limits are absolute; elected officeholders are ineligible to run for the same position where seeking higher office is common.

A two-term limit was imposed on New York City Council members and citywide elected officials (except for district attorneys) in New York City after a 1993 referendum (see the Charter of the City of New York, § 1138). On November 3, 2008, however, when Michael Bloomberg was in his second term of mayor, the City Council approved the extension of the two-term limit to a three-term limit; one year later, he was elected to a third term. The two-term limit was reinstated after a referendum in 2010.[80][81]

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the term limit for mayor is two successive four-year terms. Council members are limited to four successive two-year terms. There is no limit to total terms that may be served, just a limit on successive terms. 14. See also[edit]

 List of political term limits  Political class  Second Constitutional Convention of the United States 15. References[edit]