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If Democrats Can, Should They Pack US Supreme Court?

Dora Mekouar

   As Republicans rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald
   Trump's pick to replacethe late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S.
   Supreme Court before Election Day,some liberalDemocrats are floating
   the idea of adding more seats to the court -- beyond the current nine.

   The number of justices has changed over time, from six to as many as
   10, but the number has remained steady at nine since 1869. In the
   1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to pack the court to
   preserve his New Deal legislation, which kept getting struck down by
   the high court.He failed.

   IfDemocrats capture the White House and Senate, while retaining
   majority control of the House of Representatives, there is no
   constitutional impediment to following through on the idea.

   "There's nothing in the Constitution that says that the Supreme Court
   has to have one or two or five or 10 members," says Calvin
   Schermerhorn, professor of history at Arizona State University. "It's
   silent on how many members there are on the Supreme Court. It only says
   that there shall be a chief justice,and Congress will have the power to
   shape the court and configure them in the best interest of justice."

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