Tuesday, December 07, 2021

Is it time to add more Justices to the Supreme Court?

 President Biden's Supreme Court Commission can't come to an agreement on this point.  Here's the report.  Here's the CNN coverage of it:

A controversial commission set up by President Joe Biden to explore changes to the US Supreme Court concluded in a draft final report Monday that there was "profound" disagreement over whether to add more seats to the bench but suggested more consensus for term limits for the justices without taking a final position on the issue.

The report -- which was widely criticized before its release because it would not offer concrete recommendations to the President -- spans hundreds of pages and also tackles issues such as the court's emergency docket and the current state of confirmation hearings. The draft report was compiled by a commission with more than 30 members, who are expected to vote Tuesday to make the report final.
The report from the commission, which was established last April, comes as polls show that public approval of the Supreme Court has dropped in recent months, especially since September, when the justices allowed a Texas ban on abortions at roughly six weeks of pregnancy to take effect. More recently, after oral arguments in a Mississippi abortion rights case, it appeared the justices were on the cusp of eviscerating the core of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

Instead of (or maybe in addition to) adding seats, we should impose term limits on Justices.  18 years sounds about right.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

We will shock this nation with the power of love.

Bob Becerra said...

"Court Packing" or increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court, is as bad an idea now as it was when FDR tried to do it in the 1930s. Just stop. FDR's party lost a mess of seats in Congress in the following congressional election (1938).

Anonymous said...

"Just stop." Be a little more patronizing.

Anonymous said...

An especially worthless and pointless commission.

Anonymous said...

You can say that about almost anything political. Doesn't mean we should stop trying to resolve our issues.

Anonymous said...

I read a tweet recently, written by a lefty:

"A party that cannot protect itself by protecting voting rights is not going to expand the Supreme Court. This talk is just like looking for a unicorn. It is fantasy."

Stated differently, the democrats never miss an opportunity to screw themselves.

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party, the Federalist Society, and the right wing of the Catholic Church have already successfully engaged in court packing. Time to even things out.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure how the DEMs are "screwing themselves" by not trying to add Justices. There is a consensus opinion that the SCt's legitimacy has waned in the last few years according to public polling. What's the answer? Biden convened a bipartisan commission. Yes, the commission is probably not going to yield any solutions but the first step is discussing the issue.

Anonymous said...

Greg Tate RIP

If you like early 70s Miles give Burnt Sugar's "Angels Over Oakanda" a spin.