With 2019 coming to a close, the democratic presidential candidate
race has been intensifying. One topic of debate, brought up by Pete Buttigieg,
is that the Supreme Court should be reorganized and/or expand the number of justices[1]
to further cultivate an apolitical court climate. This proposal, although
breaking a longstanding norm, would be constitutional. Due to the abstractness nature
of the US constitution, the number of justices has varied since the inception
of the US in 1776. Though having 9 justices has been the longest-lasting norm with
the ratification of The Judiciary Act of 1869, there were periods where there were
as few as 5 justices and as many as 10.
Buttigieg’s proposal is not original, in 1937 President Roosevelt
propositioned the idea of 15 justices. Though Roosevelt’s intention was self-serving
to appoint justices that would support his New Deal programs and legislation,
the proposal did bring up a different lens to view the court through. This legislative
proposal intentioned to add a justice every time a justice that hit the age of 70
years and 6 months did not retire. This unapproved proposal was nicknamed the “court-packing
plan”. While Roosevelt’s implicit reason to expand the Supreme Court to stack the court in the executive branch’s favor, the 165-day discussion surrounding the
bill in a Senate committee further solidified the courts’ importance to stay
apolitical.
Why would Buttigieg feel as though adding more justices is a
necessity? He feels that if the power of appointment was granted to current Supreme
Court justices, in his proposed scenario there would be 5 justices with this
power, it would help the court stay apolitical and would further the courts’ superior breadth of knowledge.
Nevertheless, this topic is speculative since Buttigieg just
a candidate and the Democratic Nominee has not been selected, it is important
to discuss what could come with an expanded Supreme Court. The most important question
is, what is the saturation point of the Supreme Court? It needs to be determined
if the saturation point of the Justices’ decision making has been reached. If
so, then the expansion would not change the outcome of cases. While Supreme
Justice level expansion is a hot topic, if the outcome would not be altered
then the expansion would not be necessary. Once the saturation point is determined
through research then it would make more sense to discuss at that time.
[1] Currently the expansion idea, which Mayor Buttigieg has
not fully committed to, would be increasing the number of justices from nine to
fifteen. https://www.vox.com/2019/10/30/20930662/pete-buttigieg-court-packing-anthony-kennedy-citizens-united
Web Links:
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/30/20930662/pete-buttigieg-court-packing-anthony-kennedy-citizens-united
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