Why Should We Keep Nine Justices on the Supreme Court?

Tapestry

Mar 21

A national effort is underway for an amendment that simply states “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices”.

There is no specific instruction for the number of justices that constitute the Supreme Court of the United States. But, for over 150 years, we have had nine justices.

Over time, during our entire history as a nation, Congress has changed the number of justices, both increasing and decreasing, seven times prior to 1870.

This is commonly referred to as “packing the court”, a method that has been used to gain political advantage. However, it greatly decreases confidence that the Supreme Court exists as an essential element of America’s system of checks and balances that guarantees and protects our constitutional rights.

House Democrats recently introduced a bill to add four justices via the 2021 Judiciary Act prompting the need to protect the number of nine justices. Had they acted earlier when they held the majority in both the House and Senate, they may have been better positioned to succeed. Now, with the House governed by a Republican majority, it is less likely to be successful.

In order to prohibit a future Congress or President from manipulating the number of Supreme Court justices for political advantage, more than 200 members of the U. S. House and Senate have endorsed the Keep Nine Amendment. The supporters include our local Congressmen including Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock. This amendment includes bipartisan support. Recent polls show that voters support a Keep Nine Amendment by more than a 2-1 margin.

In California, Adam Schiff is running for the U S Senate seat to be vacated by Diane Feinstein. He is strongly in favor of packing the court but there are other Democrats who do not agree with him.

At the February meeting of Nevada County Republican Women Federated, a resolution of support for Keep Nine was adopted by the members. Subsequently it was distributed to elected officials and it was distributed to the National Federation of Republican Women who printed and distributed a photo and information nationally.

It only makes common sense–when you have a well-functioning system with nine justices, why change it? Political advantage should not prevail for something so important.

Fran Freedle

Fran Freedle is a long-term resident of Nevada County. She was a small business owner, and served on the Nevada County Board of Supervisors from 1994-1999 following 8 years as a Nevada County Planning Commissioner and statewide officer. She is actively engaged in the community serving on 5 Non-Profit Boards of Directors. She founded the KARE Crisis Nursery for small children to have a place for loving care and respite for overstressed moms. She is a Soroptimist actively engaged in supporting women and children in our community and beyond. She can often be found managing the books as Treasurer for many Non-Profit accounts. She is an elected member of the Nevada County Republican Party and serves as the Treasurer.

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