Joe Biden’s 34-member Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court voted unanimously to approve and send their final report to the president after 8 months of considering whether court packing – adding more judges to the Supreme Court – is a good or bad idea.
Instead of coming out with a conclusion, the commission’s 288-page report simply gives a summary of the arguments for and against a number of issues ranging from court packing to judicial term limits to various elements of court practice.
The commission stated that “given the size and nature of the Commission and the complexity of the issue addressed,” they are unable to give a concrete opinion on the court packing issue.
“No serious person, in either major political party, suggests court packing as a means of overturning disliked Supreme Court decisions, whether the decision in question is Roe v. Wade or Citizens United,” they wrote.
“Scholars could say, until very recently, that even as compared to other court reform efforts, ‘court-packing’ is especially out of bounds. This is part of the convention of judicial independence.”
“The commission takes no position on the validity or strength of these claims,” the commission wrote, adding that their non-stance is “mirroring the broader public debate” in which there is “profound disagreement.”
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3 Responses
YWN’s malicious headline overlooks the possibiity that cowardice may not be the only reason for the refusal of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. There could have been a genuine disagreement among the members on the matter of court packing.
I personally think court packing is a horrible idea. Party A will pack it, then the next time Party B controls Congress, Party B will pack it more, then Party A … then Party B … and so on until the country runs out of lawyers. Wait a minute … it could work out, but in an unintended way.
Perhaps the headline writers should note that the Commission was NOT asked for recommendations but rather to review and summarize the various options that have been put forward for court reform. If Biden wanted an endorsement of “court packing” or any other proposal, he wouldn’t have appointed a Commission of experts spanning a broad range of views on the judiciary and Constitutional interpretations.
It seems to me that it is fortunate that this commission didn’t take a stance on court packing. The points they did make are so dishonest, it seems clear that had they taken a position, it would have been to support it.
Their very first line, that serious people from either party would not suggest packing in order to overturn a decision they didn’t like (or to avoid such decisions in the first place) is patently false. The ONLY reason to pack the court is for that very purpose, and if they’re not honest enough to recognize that fact, clearly they could favor court packing.
One thing is certain though. After Roe v. Wade is overturned this summer (if it is), right before the midterm elections, we’ll hear a great deal more about this, and we conservatives may pay the price of not regaining the Senate or House because of the decision. The liberals who currently are sick and tired of the Dems’ failed government policies (and are currently likely to go Republican) will unfortunately be reminded why they don’t like conservatives, and they will vote to keep the failed Dems in power just to thwart those who are against abortion. So be careful what you wish for…