There’s nothing in the US Constitution that stipulates the Supreme Court must be comprised of nine justices. If there was a time when changing the court’s size seemed inconceivable, Mitch McConnell’s dishonest refusal to even hold hearings for nominee Merrick Garland during President Barack Obama’s last year shifted my thinking. Recall what the Grim Reaper said in a speech in August of 2016: "One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.'"
Now after three justices have been chosen by Donald Trump—including the volatile, beer-loving Brett Kavanaugh, confirmed after a highly contentious hearing, and Amy Coney Barrett five weeks after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and confirmed just eight days before the election of Joe Biden—the role of the court has become more aggressively partisan. Gone are the days when most Americans confidently trusted that the court only acts in the country’s best interest. The court’s refusal to block the Texas abortion ban—ignoring the longstanding precedent of Roe v. Wade—surely reignites the question of whether the court’s size and composition (currently 6-3 conservative to liberal) must change to increase fairness.
What do you think? Should the Supreme Court expand beyond nine justices? And do you think President Biden has the will to take on this bruising battle with Congress? One other related question is whether justices should no longer receive lifetime appointments.
As always, I look forward to hearing what you think and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other.
One note: I will be sending you the next post on Sunday rather than Monday in observation of Labor Day.
Credit: Chief Justice John Roberts leads the US Supreme Court Justices as they arrive for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2021. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images)
This is an easy one. Firstly, yes SCOTUS must be expanded. It has become a political partisan body that does not hold the country’s best interests, Kavanagh alone is unfit, as is Thomas. Perhaps more. The gutting of The Voting Rights Act, the decision not to stop Texas from instituting this draconian abortion law and Citizens United just on their face are evidence enough that change must come to the court.
Secondly, it is time for the lifetime appointment for all federal Judges to come to an end. We can’t evolve as a country in a healthy way without fresh legal minds at the bench. But at the same time power must be cut from the Senate, for McConnel to arbitrarily deny a sitting President the right to appoint a SC Justice when a vacancy presents itself during their term does not serve the best interests of the American people.
We have to expand the Supreme Court, otherwise, we are doomed as a democracy. The refusal to stop the Texas Anti-Abortion tactic is only the tip of the iceberg going forward. I know I don't trust SCOTUS for the truth and justice right now.
Absolutely! We must expand the Supreme Court if we want our democracy to survive.
During ACB’s confirmation hearings, I clearly remember ACB’s non answers. If I recall correctly, she did discuss the importance of precedence when making a ruling. Not that there’s any precedence to the Texas abortion law, but I believe her faith blinded her ruling. Whatever happened to separation of church and state?
Everything is askew. The court is made up of a majority of conservatives when the majority of Americans are not. The lines separating church and state are no longer blurred but have simply vanished. Jim Crow has returned in southern states and women are being relegated to second class citizens. With the dangerous changes to election control in the red states moving from the voters to the legislatures we can no longer remain status quo. It is hard to believe Democrats control the WH, Senate and House. It is time to use every means available to stop this runaway train, including expanding the court, ending the filibuster and if necessary, replacing Merrick Garland with a much tougher AG. IMHO
In addition to the stuff in this piece, I see the undemocratic Electoral College as a root cause. GOP wins popular vote for President only once in the last 8 cycles but have placed 6 of 9 judges. Unless the Electoral College is abolished (yes, yes, I know) or made irrelevant, an expanded SCOTUS may eventually resemble the current SCOTUS. The House of Representatives currently, and for a century, numbers 435. If we uncap the House with simple legislation and create a substantially larger House, the total of EC votes attributable to the House dwarfs the 100 EC votes attributable to Senate. It becomes virtually impossible to win the White House without winning the popular vote.
Expand SCOTUS? Yeah I'm in. Should they be lifetime appointments? No but limit should be substantial, like 30 - 40 years. Keep in mind, accelerating the turnover of an expanded SCOTUS without also blunting the undemocratic Electoral College will hasten the time when a future SCOTUS is just as far skewed.
The Federal Courts need restructuring and have needed it for years. They have been drowning for decades. A restructure of the Circuits, at a minimum, doubling of the Judiciary, a mandated code of ethics for the Supreme Court, mandatory retirement ages for all Federal bench and magistrates, and increasing the Justices of the Supreme Court should all happen.
It should absolutely be expanded. It’s ridiculously partisan, and nothings going to change that unfortunately. So, in order to actually have some modicum of fairness we need to add to the bench. Of course the other side will do the same, and we will follow, and so on and so on. It’s a farce but it’s the farce we have on our plate.
Of course, unless we want to continue down this partisan pathway. Fairness and strict application of the law seems to be part of a bygone era. We look up for direction and they are looking down.
It really should be about 21 or so justices. The last time we added seats our population was 50 million. We’re at 400 million now. There’s no way only 9 seats can adequately serve 400 million of us. A big part of the problem is the septuagenarians in charge of the Democrats still cling to some kind of idea that all that needs to happen is for Tip and Ron to have lunch and iron out all our problems. It was a lie then and it’s a lie now. The GOP is under no such illusion. We worked our asses off night and day to give the Democrats power and they are squandering that effort trying to hold into norms and traditions that don’t exist.
Yes the President should expand the court. It will be a bruising battle in the Senate. Chief Justice Roberts has lost control of the court so we cannot allow Justices Thomas and Alito et al. To ignore precedent not only in Roe V. Wade but Voting Rights as well. If the law passes to protect voting for all, you can be sure that it will end up at the court. Yes - Justices should not have lifetime appointments. I don’t know if the President has the will to do this. There are so many things going on but he must make a decision….soon
It absolutely needs to be expanded. There is no playing “fair” with McConnell; his rules change in a nanosecond to suit Republicans, and now we have a group of SCOTUS’ who want to change precedent, not because of law, but because the court is now made of very different, right wing judges. THIS CANNOT STAND!
Yes absolutely expand the court. I read that when it was formed each justice represented about 1/10 of what they do today. Now each justice represents 63 million people. And their work is becoming more and more partisan, especially with “Shadow dockets” becoming the norm. I really like Pete Buttigieg’s plan for expanding. The problem is that there is probably no way to do so since it likely would be blocked in the senate. But there needs to be more dialogue about this in the media.
I suspect the sentence " And do you think President Biden has the will to take on this bruising battle with Congress?" should have read "losing battle." Though the time definitely has come for this change, I don't believe there is any chance this could occur until there is filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Unless martyrdom is the goal, there is no value in taking on an unwinnable battle.
I'd like to see it expanded but it must be immediately to give Biden the chance to name the new Justices. But I would also like to see Kavanaugh and Barrett - or at least Kavanaugh impeached for lying under oath. Also Clarence Thomas for his wife's role in January 6 and her political involvement which must influence him.
Yes, I believe we must expand the Supreme Court. And the only way we can expand the SC now is for the DEMS to do the hard and yes dirty work needed to reform the filibuster.
Isn't Democracy, at its very core, dependent upon the concept-Justice will prevail? Haven't most citizens come to age believing that while Presidents/members of Congress may act corruptly, ultimately, they will be held accountable. That perversity exists in nations with dictatorships or authoritarian regimes.
I fear it now exists here in America. We must expand the Supreme Court to counter the corruption that has seeped into the judicial halls of what is now, injustice.
The Supreme Court has chosen to cloak far too many actions using shadow dockets where there are no oral arguments, limited details, no vote counts and no signed opinions. This can only happen when a majority of the Justices have conspired to work for a common goal. A review of their midnight actions, show, in my opinion, they are acting in support not of the law but in support of a political party.
I believe one of the major corruption issues with many sitting on the Supreme court is their slavish dedication to not to the laws of the land, but to the aims of the Federalists Society. Mitch McConnel, unfettered by filibuster rules, rammed through as many Federalists Society-approved judges' appointments as possible. The Federalist Society's influence doesn't end there, they have infiltrated throughout the Judical Branch. Their members are involved in crafting arguments, arguing cases, clerking for judges or issuing rulings.
The scales upon which Justice should be weighed has been violated by those seeking to manipulate the law for party profit. The GOP and the Federalist Society have not put their finger on the scale but have instead stomped upon the scales of Justice.
Our nation is built upon the promise justice is blind and no one is above the law. There is evidence that our Judical System becomes so corrupted that judges dedicated to promoting the views of a private organization and political party are able to disdainfully disregard established laws without explanation, ignore the Constitution, hold hearing in the dark of night without accountability, and render rulings that are an abomination to human rights, especially the rights of women to control their own bodies.
I believe to bring our Supreme Court into a more equitable distribution of representation the number of Justices should be 13. This number would be made up of one from each of the 12 Circuits or regions and the 13th member which would reflect the Federal Circuit might be represented by the Chief Justice and when the person dies or retires can be drawn from any where within the US. My thoughts are that maybe there could be a better representation of the regions of the US in this way. McConnell placed partisan desires over respect for our institutions. Withholding one appointment, then shoving through another without regard to there harm for the institutions was shortsighted on his behalf. If our Democracy is to survive, now is the time for bold changes to ensure the fascist desires of a few are not impose on the many. Our voting rights, rights to self determination, rights to engage in marital equality are all on the line. If women had the Constitutional right of choice and now that is threatened, what's to say other Constitutionally protected rights might be next?
Expand, definitely yes. Limit their terms, absolutely. Never understood why these are lifetime appointments. There could be an option to re-nominate someone for a second term.
The number of justices need to be a function of the workload involved in supervising appellate decisions. But also, the change of one justice should be less crucial -- not a make-or-break cataclysmic decision that happens so irregularly. So, yes, expand the court. You cannot do those things without expansion. Also, some provision so that a couple of new people get elevated every presidential term. Also, codify in the Constitution that 60 votes are required to seat a justice. Put an end to highly partisan justices. They should be required to have broad support.
It would be a travesty to not expand the Supreme Court. We also need to get rid of the electoral college.
We should also have written ethical guidelines for the Justices that they must agree to follow.
I have a feeling that if enough people let Pres. Biden know we are behind him and support him through a battle with republicans he will move heaven and earth to make it happen.
Here’s why- Biden doesn’t have to worry about his political future. His presidency will determine his legacy and he wants his legacy to be that he left the job with America and the American people in a much better place than it was when he became the president. In other words, he wants to do the right thing, the thing that helps the American people thrive.
I believe this is the only way to make SCOTUS trusted again. Even tho there should be nothing political about members, it’s obvious there is. Just as McConnell got his three VERY conservative judges in, so should we, even if that means by upping the number.
I’m in favor of making the Supreme Court fair but there are many ways to accomplish that without relying on just adding to the court. Term limits and allowing each president to appoint an established number would accomplish that and would not cause a race to keep raising the number with each president.
Yes, of course expand the court - but with a permanent restructure and fix, or it will be tit-for-tat expansions for decades to come. I favor the "Three Panel" (Civil, Criminal and Constitutional) structure, with 27 justices - (or more, 3 per the 13 lower courts) that rotate through the panels. There are 2 appointments and 2 retirements per presidential term.
The Republicans can get on board with the picking of the court members or be left behind.
The court should be expanded to at least 45 justices. This would allow 3 courtrooms of 15 justices each or 3 courtrooms with fewer justices and some on reserve. The Supreme Court could render decisions year-round instead of having a season and then a summer off. They should have a code of ethics and be required to stick to it. We should have 1/3 of them be former defense attorneys or civil rights activists. This is just the beginning of the changes we should make. We need more districts because some district courts are overloaded. We need to return to jury trials and stop having so many people pleading instead of going to trial. We should have public defenders well paid, at least as well paid as the prosecutors are. Judges who do bad things should not get pensions. Dale
Yes, expand! Just look at the case load, the volume of litigation cries out for a much bigger federal bench at every level, including at least two more justices on the supreme court. The Republican appointees have been shamelessly partisan since Bush vs. Gore whenever there was the flimsiest shred of an excuse.
Yes, absolutely, expand the Supreme Court to re-establish balance. There's already a bill to make a very modest expansion, the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13 Justices.
These links go to "all info," which includes the sponsors and co-sponsors.
Here's a step you can take: Follow each link. Check if your representative (and senators) have co-sponsored this bill. Then, contact them and tell them in clear, vivid language what you think. If they are a co-sponsor, thank them. If not, ask them to co-sponsor the bill.
It they are Democrats, remind them that Dems can win in 2022 and 2024 by showing that they know how to govern for the good of all people. And expanding the court is A Good Idea, for all sorts of reasons mentioned in other comments on this substack (increase in the U.S. population, rebalance the court, re-establish the rule of law).
If they are Republicans, that's a harder message to craft. But remind them that the Court is intended by the framers to be independent and non-partisan -- that's why they are lifetime appointments -- and it has clearly been tilted to the right. It's a matter not only of common sense but of honor to have the Court represent all America.
I particularly like the idea of 12 Justices representing the 12 Circuits.
And, remember, bills like this will only start to pass if the filibuster is altered or eliminated. I think Joe Manchin will not go for elimination, so... change the filibuster to a "talking filibuster," with requirements that 41 of the opposing party be actually on the floor during the filibuster. And require that the filibuster itself be pertinent to the bill being filibustered. No reading of the phone book!
I totally agree the Court should be expanded and/or term limits be imposed. Given Republican/Koch control of the Senate, neither will happen, but, as LBJ said of the Voting Rights Act, "What else is the presidency for?"
This President should not only expand the Supreme Court, but also do whatever he can to force through his agenda, especially bills relating to voting rights. I could count the number of Republicans on one hand that would stand up to the Trump wing of the Party. Time is running out and we may not get another chance to change the trajectory of a country headed toward an autocracy.
Yes. Expand SCOTUS. It is an OUTDATED institution. 9 justices are too few to represent all of the United States. We have 13 Appellate courts that represent the US regionally. Expand SCOTUS to 13 . And NO MORE LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS FOR ANY JUSTICES/JUDGES. That is outdated.
Clearly, the court expansion might be the only way to achieve a better balance. It is weighted against progressives and therefore the needs of most Americans. There is no way that the sitting justices are about to change their conservative stripes nor rule against them. This Texas bill was a stunner. That the Republicans thought this out so efficiently really seemed to surprise the Dems. We all need to be better prepared. The Supreme Court is no longer following one of our basic precepts, "...and justice for all."
This is an easy one. Firstly, yes SCOTUS must be expanded. It has become a political partisan body that does not hold the country’s best interests, Kavanagh alone is unfit, as is Thomas. Perhaps more. The gutting of The Voting Rights Act, the decision not to stop Texas from instituting this draconian abortion law and Citizens United just on their face are evidence enough that change must come to the court.
Secondly, it is time for the lifetime appointment for all federal Judges to come to an end. We can’t evolve as a country in a healthy way without fresh legal minds at the bench. But at the same time power must be cut from the Senate, for McConnel to arbitrarily deny a sitting President the right to appoint a SC Justice when a vacancy presents itself during their term does not serve the best interests of the American people.
We have to expand the Supreme Court, otherwise, we are doomed as a democracy. The refusal to stop the Texas Anti-Abortion tactic is only the tip of the iceberg going forward. I know I don't trust SCOTUS for the truth and justice right now.
Absolutely! We must expand the Supreme Court if we want our democracy to survive.
During ACB’s confirmation hearings, I clearly remember ACB’s non answers. If I recall correctly, she did discuss the importance of precedence when making a ruling. Not that there’s any precedence to the Texas abortion law, but I believe her faith blinded her ruling. Whatever happened to separation of church and state?
Everything is askew. The court is made up of a majority of conservatives when the majority of Americans are not. The lines separating church and state are no longer blurred but have simply vanished. Jim Crow has returned in southern states and women are being relegated to second class citizens. With the dangerous changes to election control in the red states moving from the voters to the legislatures we can no longer remain status quo. It is hard to believe Democrats control the WH, Senate and House. It is time to use every means available to stop this runaway train, including expanding the court, ending the filibuster and if necessary, replacing Merrick Garland with a much tougher AG. IMHO
In addition to the stuff in this piece, I see the undemocratic Electoral College as a root cause. GOP wins popular vote for President only once in the last 8 cycles but have placed 6 of 9 judges. Unless the Electoral College is abolished (yes, yes, I know) or made irrelevant, an expanded SCOTUS may eventually resemble the current SCOTUS. The House of Representatives currently, and for a century, numbers 435. If we uncap the House with simple legislation and create a substantially larger House, the total of EC votes attributable to the House dwarfs the 100 EC votes attributable to Senate. It becomes virtually impossible to win the White House without winning the popular vote.
Expand SCOTUS? Yeah I'm in. Should they be lifetime appointments? No but limit should be substantial, like 30 - 40 years. Keep in mind, accelerating the turnover of an expanded SCOTUS without also blunting the undemocratic Electoral College will hasten the time when a future SCOTUS is just as far skewed.
The Federal Courts need restructuring and have needed it for years. They have been drowning for decades. A restructure of the Circuits, at a minimum, doubling of the Judiciary, a mandated code of ethics for the Supreme Court, mandatory retirement ages for all Federal bench and magistrates, and increasing the Justices of the Supreme Court should all happen.
It should absolutely be expanded. It’s ridiculously partisan, and nothings going to change that unfortunately. So, in order to actually have some modicum of fairness we need to add to the bench. Of course the other side will do the same, and we will follow, and so on and so on. It’s a farce but it’s the farce we have on our plate.
Of course, unless we want to continue down this partisan pathway. Fairness and strict application of the law seems to be part of a bygone era. We look up for direction and they are looking down.
It really should be about 21 or so justices. The last time we added seats our population was 50 million. We’re at 400 million now. There’s no way only 9 seats can adequately serve 400 million of us. A big part of the problem is the septuagenarians in charge of the Democrats still cling to some kind of idea that all that needs to happen is for Tip and Ron to have lunch and iron out all our problems. It was a lie then and it’s a lie now. The GOP is under no such illusion. We worked our asses off night and day to give the Democrats power and they are squandering that effort trying to hold into norms and traditions that don’t exist.
Yes the President should expand the court. It will be a bruising battle in the Senate. Chief Justice Roberts has lost control of the court so we cannot allow Justices Thomas and Alito et al. To ignore precedent not only in Roe V. Wade but Voting Rights as well. If the law passes to protect voting for all, you can be sure that it will end up at the court. Yes - Justices should not have lifetime appointments. I don’t know if the President has the will to do this. There are so many things going on but he must make a decision….soon
Yes, unfortunately No and Yes. Thank you for your thoughtful and well written commentary.
It absolutely needs to be expanded. There is no playing “fair” with McConnell; his rules change in a nanosecond to suit Republicans, and now we have a group of SCOTUS’ who want to change precedent, not because of law, but because the court is now made of very different, right wing judges. THIS CANNOT STAND!
Yes absolutely expand the court. I read that when it was formed each justice represented about 1/10 of what they do today. Now each justice represents 63 million people. And their work is becoming more and more partisan, especially with “Shadow dockets” becoming the norm. I really like Pete Buttigieg’s plan for expanding. The problem is that there is probably no way to do so since it likely would be blocked in the senate. But there needs to be more dialogue about this in the media.
I have read that the Constitution does not prohibit the addition of justices. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-yes-you-can-change-the-number-of-supreme-court-justices-can-the-democrats-change-the-number-of-supreme-court-justices-is-that-allowed-verify/65-d40cda5e-9613-48aa-ba6d-271f8a1dfab8
I suspect the sentence " And do you think President Biden has the will to take on this bruising battle with Congress?" should have read "losing battle." Though the time definitely has come for this change, I don't believe there is any chance this could occur until there is filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Unless martyrdom is the goal, there is no value in taking on an unwinnable battle.
Should have term limits set up so that each presidential term gets a certain # of appts.
I'd like to see it expanded but it must be immediately to give Biden the chance to name the new Justices. But I would also like to see Kavanaugh and Barrett - or at least Kavanaugh impeached for lying under oath. Also Clarence Thomas for his wife's role in January 6 and her political involvement which must influence him.
Yes, I believe we must expand the Supreme Court. And the only way we can expand the SC now is for the DEMS to do the hard and yes dirty work needed to reform the filibuster.
Isn't Democracy, at its very core, dependent upon the concept-Justice will prevail? Haven't most citizens come to age believing that while Presidents/members of Congress may act corruptly, ultimately, they will be held accountable. That perversity exists in nations with dictatorships or authoritarian regimes.
I fear it now exists here in America. We must expand the Supreme Court to counter the corruption that has seeped into the judicial halls of what is now, injustice.
The Supreme Court has chosen to cloak far too many actions using shadow dockets where there are no oral arguments, limited details, no vote counts and no signed opinions. This can only happen when a majority of the Justices have conspired to work for a common goal. A review of their midnight actions, show, in my opinion, they are acting in support not of the law but in support of a political party.
I believe one of the major corruption issues with many sitting on the Supreme court is their slavish dedication to not to the laws of the land, but to the aims of the Federalists Society. Mitch McConnel, unfettered by filibuster rules, rammed through as many Federalists Society-approved judges' appointments as possible. The Federalist Society's influence doesn't end there, they have infiltrated throughout the Judical Branch. Their members are involved in crafting arguments, arguing cases, clerking for judges or issuing rulings.
The scales upon which Justice should be weighed has been violated by those seeking to manipulate the law for party profit. The GOP and the Federalist Society have not put their finger on the scale but have instead stomped upon the scales of Justice.
Our nation is built upon the promise justice is blind and no one is above the law. There is evidence that our Judical System becomes so corrupted that judges dedicated to promoting the views of a private organization and political party are able to disdainfully disregard established laws without explanation, ignore the Constitution, hold hearing in the dark of night without accountability, and render rulings that are an abomination to human rights, especially the rights of women to control their own bodies.
I believe to bring our Supreme Court into a more equitable distribution of representation the number of Justices should be 13. This number would be made up of one from each of the 12 Circuits or regions and the 13th member which would reflect the Federal Circuit might be represented by the Chief Justice and when the person dies or retires can be drawn from any where within the US. My thoughts are that maybe there could be a better representation of the regions of the US in this way. McConnell placed partisan desires over respect for our institutions. Withholding one appointment, then shoving through another without regard to there harm for the institutions was shortsighted on his behalf. If our Democracy is to survive, now is the time for bold changes to ensure the fascist desires of a few are not impose on the many. Our voting rights, rights to self determination, rights to engage in marital equality are all on the line. If women had the Constitutional right of choice and now that is threatened, what's to say other Constitutionally protected rights might be next?
Expand, definitely yes. Limit their terms, absolutely. Never understood why these are lifetime appointments. There could be an option to re-nominate someone for a second term.
The number of justices need to be a function of the workload involved in supervising appellate decisions. But also, the change of one justice should be less crucial -- not a make-or-break cataclysmic decision that happens so irregularly. So, yes, expand the court. You cannot do those things without expansion. Also, some provision so that a couple of new people get elevated every presidential term. Also, codify in the Constitution that 60 votes are required to seat a justice. Put an end to highly partisan justices. They should be required to have broad support.
Do it and do it now.
It would be a travesty to not expand the Supreme Court. We also need to get rid of the electoral college.
We should also have written ethical guidelines for the Justices that they must agree to follow.
I have a feeling that if enough people let Pres. Biden know we are behind him and support him through a battle with republicans he will move heaven and earth to make it happen.
Here’s why- Biden doesn’t have to worry about his political future. His presidency will determine his legacy and he wants his legacy to be that he left the job with America and the American people in a much better place than it was when he became the president. In other words, he wants to do the right thing, the thing that helps the American people thrive.
I believe this is the only way to make SCOTUS trusted again. Even tho there should be nothing political about members, it’s obvious there is. Just as McConnell got his three VERY conservative judges in, so should we, even if that means by upping the number.
I’m in favor of making the Supreme Court fair but there are many ways to accomplish that without relying on just adding to the court. Term limits and allowing each president to appoint an established number would accomplish that and would not cause a race to keep raising the number with each president.
Yes, of course expand the court - but with a permanent restructure and fix, or it will be tit-for-tat expansions for decades to come. I favor the "Three Panel" (Civil, Criminal and Constitutional) structure, with 27 justices - (or more, 3 per the 13 lower courts) that rotate through the panels. There are 2 appointments and 2 retirements per presidential term.
The Republicans can get on board with the picking of the court members or be left behind.
The court should be expanded to at least 45 justices. This would allow 3 courtrooms of 15 justices each or 3 courtrooms with fewer justices and some on reserve. The Supreme Court could render decisions year-round instead of having a season and then a summer off. They should have a code of ethics and be required to stick to it. We should have 1/3 of them be former defense attorneys or civil rights activists. This is just the beginning of the changes we should make. We need more districts because some district courts are overloaded. We need to return to jury trials and stop having so many people pleading instead of going to trial. We should have public defenders well paid, at least as well paid as the prosecutors are. Judges who do bad things should not get pensions. Dale
Yes, expand! Just look at the case load, the volume of litigation cries out for a much bigger federal bench at every level, including at least two more justices on the supreme court. The Republican appointees have been shamelessly partisan since Bush vs. Gore whenever there was the flimsiest shred of an excuse.
Yes, absolutely, expand the Supreme Court to re-establish balance. There's already a bill to make a very modest expansion, the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13 Justices.
In the House, this is H.R.2584, sponsored by Hank Johnson D-GA-4 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2584/all-info).
In the Senate, this is S.1141, sponsored by Ed Markey D-MA (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1141/all-info).
These links go to "all info," which includes the sponsors and co-sponsors.
Here's a step you can take: Follow each link. Check if your representative (and senators) have co-sponsored this bill. Then, contact them and tell them in clear, vivid language what you think. If they are a co-sponsor, thank them. If not, ask them to co-sponsor the bill.
It they are Democrats, remind them that Dems can win in 2022 and 2024 by showing that they know how to govern for the good of all people. And expanding the court is A Good Idea, for all sorts of reasons mentioned in other comments on this substack (increase in the U.S. population, rebalance the court, re-establish the rule of law).
If they are Republicans, that's a harder message to craft. But remind them that the Court is intended by the framers to be independent and non-partisan -- that's why they are lifetime appointments -- and it has clearly been tilted to the right. It's a matter not only of common sense but of honor to have the Court represent all America.
I particularly like the idea of 12 Justices representing the 12 Circuits.
And, remember, bills like this will only start to pass if the filibuster is altered or eliminated. I think Joe Manchin will not go for elimination, so... change the filibuster to a "talking filibuster," with requirements that 41 of the opposing party be actually on the floor during the filibuster. And require that the filibuster itself be pertinent to the bill being filibustered. No reading of the phone book!
For more on this see Al Franken's interview with Jonathan Alter on Alter's substack, called "old goats" (https://oldgoats.substack.com/p/ruminating-with-al-franken).
-- Bob Stromberg, Round Lake, NY
I think he has the will, however isisthere is so much on his/our plate. Not sure this is the time for success
I totally agree the Court should be expanded and/or term limits be imposed. Given Republican/Koch control of the Senate, neither will happen, but, as LBJ said of the Voting Rights Act, "What else is the presidency for?"
This President should not only expand the Supreme Court, but also do whatever he can to force through his agenda, especially bills relating to voting rights. I could count the number of Republicans on one hand that would stand up to the Trump wing of the Party. Time is running out and we may not get another chance to change the trajectory of a country headed toward an autocracy.
Yes. Expand SCOTUS. It is an OUTDATED institution. 9 justices are too few to represent all of the United States. We have 13 Appellate courts that represent the US regionally. Expand SCOTUS to 13 . And NO MORE LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS FOR ANY JUSTICES/JUDGES. That is outdated.
Clearly, the court expansion might be the only way to achieve a better balance. It is weighted against progressives and therefore the needs of most Americans. There is no way that the sitting justices are about to change their conservative stripes nor rule against them. This Texas bill was a stunner. That the Republicans thought this out so efficiently really seemed to surprise the Dems. We all need to be better prepared. The Supreme Court is no longer following one of our basic precepts, "...and justice for all."
The court went to 9 in 1869 when the US population was under 40 million.
The recent census has us at around 332 million. An expanded court could better represent the country.