Biden and the Courts

[TGHusker]

Pres Biden has created the commission to evaluate the structure of the court.  The commission is made up of both liberal and conservative experts.

Some of the items they will be looking at are:

1. The # of justices that should be on the SC

2. If term limits should be applied to the SC

3.  Rules and practices of the court

Should the court be expanded and should term limits be created?  What other changes would you like to see?

Biden's Court Commission

A couple of quotes

The commission, however, is likely to disappoint liberals who are looking for quick action to blunt the court’s conservative majority while giving the president cover to avoid wading into the contentious debate. The members are not tasked with giving Biden specific recommendations, but rather providing an analysis of a range of proposed changes to the court. The executive order establishing the commission mandates that the group hold public meetings and take input from a range of stakeholders, with the report expected in October.

“The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the court’s role in the constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the court; the membership and size of the court; and the court’s case selection, rules, and practice,” the White House said in a statement Friday.

The announcement comes on the heels of Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s remarks against court expansion this week, warning that it could make the court more political and undermine trust in the institution.

“Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that latter perception, further eroding that trust,” he said in a speech at Harvard Law School on Tuesday.

Most of the commission’s members are academics, and they come from a range of political backgrounds and philosophies. Bob Bauer, a top lawyer on Biden’s campaign, and Cristina Rodriguez, a professor at Yale Law School, will chair the commission, which will be run out of the White House Counsel’s Office.

The panel includes prominent liberals including Caroline Fredrickson, the former president of the American Constitution Society; Laurence Tribe, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School; and Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The group’s conservative members include Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor and former top official in George W. Bush’s Justice Department; Keith Whittington, a professor at Princeton University; and Adam White, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

 

[RedDenver]

I said "no" to adding more justices, but I'd be fine with adding more. But the math works out better for 18 year terms and 9 justices.

The more important issue for me is term limits and the Senate not being able to hold an appointment across terms in order to get "their pick" instead. Set the terms to 18 years at every federal level - e.g. a federal circuit judge can only hold that position for a max of 18 years but could move up to a SC position for up to another 18 years.

Not sure how to force the Senate to have to accept a President's nominees. Maybe the same President keeps nominating, even after term ends, until a nominee is selected by the Senate (possibly a newly elected Senate). Even as I type that I'm not sure that's a good idea.

But we can remove the incentive for a justice to retire because "their party" is in power. Justices that are replaced before their term ends (retired, died, etc.) get temporary replacements who themselves are replaced at the replaced justice's 18 year term end. If there's 9 justices, then terms ending every 2 years add up to 18 years, which works out better than having more justices.

 

[TGHusker]

The more important issue for me is term limits and the Senate not being able to hold an appointment across terms in order to get "their pick" instead. Set the terms to 18 years at every federal level - e.g. a federal circuit judge can only hold that position for a max of 18 years but could move up to a SC position for up to another 18 years.

I agree with this - I think 18 years is the perfect solution.  

But we can remove the incentive for a justice to retire because "their party" is in power. Justices that are replaced before their term ends (retired, died, etc.) get temporary replacements who themselves are replaced at the replaced justice's 18 year term end

Reading the article I posted, you will find that the Dems are not trying to push Breyer to retire NOW while the Dems control the Senate.  This is another way the courts are politicized - both parties do it. 

 

[TGHusker]

I don't like this - not because it is the Dems who may be planning on expanding the court, but because it will start a cycle of political football - once the GOP gains

power, they will do the same thing.   Let's stop this mess and just create term limits.   The congress still has the power of impeachment if a justice is deemed entirely incompetent or is unethical in behavior, etc.   Yes, I get it that the GOP played political football 2x - not allowing Obama to fill the vacant Scalia seat and also the rush to place Barrett on the court.  But packing the court will create an unending cycle of 'one upmanship"

https://theintercept.com/2021/04/14/house-and-senate-democrats-plan-bill-to-add-four-justices-to-supreme-court/

Congressional Democrats plan to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.

The bill would add four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13 from the current nine. The bill is led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, subcommittee Chair Hank Johnson, and first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones. In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Ed Markey of Massachusetts.


The number of justices on the court, which is set by Congress, has fluctuated throughout the course of the nation’s history, reaching as many as 10 seats before settling on nine in 1869. In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz suggested that if Hillary Clinton were elected, the Republican Senate should keep Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat empty, effectively bringing the number of justices down to eight.

Republicans currently hold six seats, while Democrats hold just three. Republicans were able to solidify control of the court under former President Donald Trump, after first refusing to advance Merrick Garland’s nomination under former President Barack Obama and then confirming Justice Neil Gorsuch after Trump’s election. Then after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last September, Republicans threw out the procedures they had previously embraced and confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a matter of weeks.

After Trump’s nomination of Coney Barrett, then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced pressure to stop her confirmation by any means necessary. When those myriad options fell short and Coney Barrett was pushed through, the conversation turned to expanding the court.

“Not only do these extremist judges threaten more than a century of progressive achievements,” read a letter to Schumer by 20 New York elected officials, “they threaten to foreclose the possibility of any future progress under a Democratic administration.”

 

[knapplc]

I don't like this - not because it is the Dems who may be planning on expanding the court, but because it will start a cycle of political football - once the GOP gains

power, they will do the same thing.   Let's stop this mess and just create term limits.   The congress still has the power of impeachment if a justice is deemed entirely incompetent or is unethical in behavior, etc.   Yes, I get it that the GOP played political football 2x - not allowing Obama to fill the vacant Scalia seat and also the rush to place Barrett on the court.  But packing the court will create an unending cycle of 'one upmanship"

Let's rest blame where it belongs. Merrick Garland was salvo one, Amy Coney Barrett was salvo two. 

Expanding the court is the only reasonable response to that. This country cannot continue to be influenced by minority rule like this. 

 

[Redux]

Packing the court is like offering to be the banker in Monopoly and skimming off the treasury while everyone watches you do it.  Ridiculous.

 

[TGHusker]

Let's rest blame where it belongs. Merrick Garland was salvo one, Amy Coney Barrett was salvo two. 

Expanding the court is the only reasonable response to that. This country cannot continue to be influenced by minority rule like this. 

Knapp, I agree on salvo one and two -  I disagree that packing the court is the correct long term solution to it. 

 

[knapplc]

Knapp, I agree on salvo one and two -  I disagree that packing the court is the correct long term solution to it. 

I'm not a fan of it either, but majority rule has to win out. That's the basis of a democracy.

 

[Archy1221]

Let's rest blame where it belongs. Merrick Garland was salvo one, Amy Coney Barrett was salvo two. 

Expanding the court is the only reasonable response to that. This country cannot continue to be influenced by minority rule like this. 

Ridiculous.  Even the douche Harry Reid disagrees with you.  

 

[Redux]

There are already 9, majority can win out.  Adding more just ensures the majority you WANT wins out.

 

[knapplc]

There are already 9, majority can win out.  Adding more just ensures the majority you WANT wins out.

If the Democrats had stolen two seats from the republicans I'd have the same opinion. 

 

[Redux]

If the Democrats had stolen two seats from the republicans I'd have the same opinion. 

Sure you would

 

[knapplc]

Sure you would

As my grandpa used to say, "Right's right and wrong's a s#!tass." 

I don't give a damn about the Democrats. I care about what's right. McConnell orchestrated a hijacking of the Supreme Court, and that should be corrected. 

 

[Redux]

As my grandpa used to say, "Right's right and wrong's a s#!tass." 

I don't give a damn about the Democrats. I care about what's right. McConnell orchestrated a hijacking of the Supreme Court, and that should be corrected. 

Correcting a typo doesn't mean adding more letters