The Supreme Court

The calls to increase the number of seats on the Supreme Court have been growing louder and louder. Unsatisfied with the current leanings of the court, some are calling to pack the court with liberal justices. This logic is both unprecedented and dangerous. The Supreme Court is the one institution that Americans still largely respect. Citizens may disagree with the Court’s decisions at times, but they recognize the moral authority the Court holds.

The Importance of the Court

The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review where they can rule acts by the legislative branch and the executive branch unconstitutional. This is the most important power of the Court as they serve as the guardians over the system. We are supposed to have co-equal branches of government, and it is the Supreme Court that can restore the balance of power when one branch grows too powerful over the others. While Congress has willingly abdicated a lot of power to the executive branch, many still hold the Court in high regard.

Another important aspect of the Court is to ensure that changing views within the United States do not undermine the principles and values set forth by the founding fathers. The freedoms we enjoy should be protected at all costs. This is more important now than ever. People are increasingly trying to deem disagreements as offensive speech and attempt to silence anyone who disagrees with them. The Supreme Court is critical to protecting civil rights and liberties. There is a fine line between the balance of liberty and order. Tampering with the Supreme Court, for political reasons, will end in disaster.

Historical changes to the Supreme Court

The Constitution does not specify the number of justices on the Court. The Constitution gives Congress broad discretion over the court system as outlined in Article 3, Section 1. “The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

The number of justices on the Supreme Court fluctuated throughout our early history. In the Judiciary Act of 1789, the first Supreme Court was established with six justices. The Judiciary Act of 1801 was passed and reduced the number of justices to five. This was an effort by President Adams to stymie the incoming President, Thomas Jefferson. Once President Jefferson came into office, the number of justices was restored to six, and in 1807, the number of justices was increased to seven. In 1937, under President Andrew Jackson, two more justices were added to the Supreme Court bringing the number to nine. 

The Civil War was a tumultuous time in the United States, and a 10^th justice was added to the Supreme Court in 1863. However, following the Civil War and the reconstruction era, the Judiciary Act of 1869 was passed bringing the number of Supreme Court justices back to nine. It has been nine ever since.

President Roosevelt was bitter when the Supreme Court struck down key provisions in the National Industries Recovery Act. In the 1935 case Schechter Poultry v. United States. In 1937, President Roosevelt threatened to pack the Court with more ideological justices. He wanted more justices who would be sympathetic to his argument, but the idea was highly unpopular. President Roosevelt abandoned the idea when new vacancies arose.

Why Democrats are angry

Many Democrats are still bitter over how Republicans handled the Merrick Garland nomination which is understandable. However, Senate Majority Leader McConnell took a major gamble when he delayed any hearings and a floor vote on Judge Garland’s nomination. This is especially true since most polls were showing that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 Presidential Race. However, President Trump won, and Democrats remain bitter and shortsighted.

Since then, President Trump selected Justice Neil Gorsuch to fill the Scalia vacancy, and Brett Kavanaugh to fill the Kennedy vacancy. Many Democrats are fearful that President Trump may be able to select more Justices. Health concerns and age plague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In addition, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Stephen Breyer are old and retirement is a possibility.

The current threats to the Supreme Court

Many presidential hopefuls and many Democrats in Congress have renewed the idea of adding seats to the Supreme Court to make the Court have a more lean liberal. This is wrong and politically dangerous. The Supreme Court’s purpose is not to legislate from the bench. Judicial activism should not be tolerated. Its purpose is not to push an ideological vision regardless if the vision is liberal or conservative. The Supreme Court’s role is to strictly interpret the Constitution, ensure government adheres to the guiding principles set forth by the founding fathers, and to protect the rights of the citizens of the United States.

Packing the court for ideological purposes sets a dangerous precedent going forward. It is important for Democrats to recognize if they try to pack the Supreme Court with justices that will legislate from the bench, Republicans will do the same thing once they regain power.

I recognize many of the candidates are just paying lip service to the base, but it is dangerous to even threaten packing the Supreme Court. Republicans shouldn’t do it, nor should the Democrats. We have had nine Justices since 1869, and there are no compelling reasons to add or remove the seats. It is important for us to speak up to make sure we continue to have an independent judiciary. As stated before, the Supreme Court is the one institution that has remained largely traditional and Americans still respect even though we may not always agree with the decisions they render.

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