What Has to Happen for the Supreme Court to Hear a Case From a District Court
When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September xviii, 2020, many Americans didn't take the proper time to grieve — instead, they panicked about what her passing meant for the futurity of the land. Holding the balance of an entire democracy is also great a burden for anyone's shoulders, and Justice Ginsburg had been carrying that weight for a long, long fourth dimension. Instead of holding space for her passing, Republican politicians wasted no time in queuing upwardly a nominee for the empty Supreme Courtroom seat, eventually landing on Amy Coney Barrett — a longtime Notre Dame Law School professor who served fewer than iii years on the Seventh Circuit before her nomination to the highest court in the American judicial system.
In 2016, then-Senate Bulk Leader Mitch McConnell infamously vowed to block President Obama's outgoing Supreme Courtroom nomination of Merrick Garland on the grounds that the American people should take a "voice" and that to rush a nomination (and confirmation) would be to overly politicize the result. In 2020, however, McConnell didn't hold to those principles he outlined four years before, leading to Barrett's confirmation hearings and every bit rushed swearing in ceremony, which took identify most a calendar week before Election Day on Oct 26, 2020.
This move led many to criticize McConnell, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC), who simply tweeted, "Expand the court." Additionally, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey (@EdMarkey), who is Ocasio-Cortez'due south Green New Deal co-writer, tweeted, "Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election twelvemonth. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the side by side Congress, we must cancel the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court."
The Number of Supreme Court Seats Has Been Adapted Before — Here'due south How It'southward Done
This call for a SCOTUS expansion has led many to wonder: Is such a motility even possible? The short answer: yes. Congress could easily change the number of seats on the Supreme Court bench. According to the Supreme Court's website, "The Constitution places the power to determine the number of Justices in the easily of Congress" — just another instance of those supposed checks and balances that guide a constitutional authorities. In fact, the number of Justices has shifted several times throughout the Court's history. In 1789, the first Judiciary Deed set the number of Justices at six; during the Civil War, the number of seats went upwardly to ix so briefly 10; and, once President Andrew Johnson took office, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act in 1866, cut the number of Justices to 7 and then that Johnson couldn't stack the court in favor of Southern states.
Since 1869, however, the Supreme Court has been composed of nine Justices. In semi-contempo history, there's been i notable attempt to expand the Court — i that will live in infamy, and then to speak. Dorsum in 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt aimed to expand the Court, which kept shooting down some of his New Deal legislation. More specifically, FDR felt that many of the older Justices were out of touch with the times, so much and then that they were colloquially dubbed the "nine old men."
FDR's proposal? Add ane Justice to the Supreme Court for every 70-yr-onetime Justice residing on the bench. That would've resulted in xv Supreme Court Justices, only even the Democrat-controlled Congress — and FDR'due south own Vice President — were against the idea. Since FDR'due south infamous defeat, no attempt to expand or reduce the Supreme Courtroom has gathered much steam — until at present.
How Likely Is It That Democrats Will Expand the Supreme Court in 2021?
Interestingly enough, Pol points out that President Biden has been outspoken virtually non expanding the courtroom. In 2019, President Biden fifty-fifty went as far every bit saying "we'll live to rue that twenty-four hour period [we expand the Courtroom]," arguing that an expansion would lead to constant changes — more expansions, more reductions. In short, information technology would shake the American people'due south organized religion in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court (and potentially the Democratic party). Of class, that's merely 1 scenario — and one that hasn't happened in the past. But, in the by, Vice President Kamala Harris has shown some back up for the thought, saying she'd be "open" to it. However, both Vice President Harris and President Biden have also dodged questions surrounding court-packing and Supreme Court expansion.
On the other hand, more outspoken proponents accept tried to gather momentum for the idea. Representative Ocasio-Cortez expanded upon her initial "Expand the Court" tweet, calling out Republicans' hypocrisy toward appointing new Justices during presidential election years. "Republicans practice this considering they don't believe Dems have the stones to play hardball like they exercise. And for a long time they've been correct," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Simply exercise not allow them bully the public into thinking their bulldozing is normal but a response isn't. At that place is a legal process for expansion."
In the confront of a 6–3 Conservative majority, folks similar Representative Ocasio-Cortez argue that the Supreme Courtroom is out of residue — and, more than that, information technology isn't quite reflective of the American people's concerns and values. So much lies in the hands of the court: the fate of the Affordable Intendance Human activity, Roe v. Wade and marriage equality, simply to name a few. Now, nosotros'll just accept to see if this imbalance — and Barrett'due south speedy appointment — are enough to convince President Biden and members of Congress to seriously consider a Supreme Courtroom expansion.
Source: https://www.ask.com/culture/ask-answers-expand-supreme-court?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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