(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Top Comments : Radical Reform of SCOTUS Edition [1] ['Thom Hartmann', 'Chitown Kev'] Date: 2026-05-19 A couple of weeks ago, I saw a YouTube video posted by New York Times columnist, Jamelle Bouie. In the video he mentions a number of ways in which Congress could reform the Supreme Court without amending the Constitution. Some of the ways mentioned are ones being bandied around by various people and groups: expanding the number of justices; limit new justices to a set number of years before being moved into senior status or to a lower court; match the number of justices to the number of circuits, etc. Alternatively, Bouie mentions a couple of much more radical proposals which also wouldn’t require a Constitutional amendment but are nevertheless intriguing. As we know, Article III of the Constitution requires there be a Supreme Court. This Court has a few areas of original jurisdiction including disputes between states and disputes involving diplomats. While the Court has appellate jurisdiction, it only has it when Congress authorizes it. One of Bouie’s ideas is to strip the Supreme Court of all appellate jurisdiction and instead create a, what I am calling, High Court of Appeals. This Court would have two judges from each of the circuits picked for two year terms on a rotating basis. That would gives this Court 26 members. Each case which is granted cert would be heard by a random choice of nine of these judges. This decision would be final and no en banc hearing could be held. Bouie also believes in turning the current Supreme Court building into a museum and forcing the Court in, whatever manners it becomes, back into the Capitol and back into its original location. While this location is not in the basement of the Capitol as Bouie says (it’s on the ground floor), it is below both the Old Senate Chamber and the current Senate chamber. A not so subtle hint as to the Courts placement in the hierarchy of the Branches. (Pictures of the Old Supreme Court Chamber below taken by me on my last tour of the Capitol.) One other radical proposal Bouie discusses is eliminating the patronage system of how clerks are chosen. By not allowing the justices to pick their own clerks, you reduce the chance of a feedback loop between the clerks and the justices as well as the ability for outside groups to have more influence over court decisions. These are definitely ideas I can get behind. I will be flying home from Reno next week, so no diary from me. See you all in June! Diarist reserves all rights to his original writing only. Community material is not covered by this © Now a word from out sponsor and onto the Tops! Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site’s best, funniest, most mojo’d & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! Here’s the new & improved DK6 version of how to submit nominations: If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail dot com or send a kosmail to the username topcomments by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find! Top Comments for May 19, 2026 From our fearless leader, brillig: There were so many excellent comments in my Top Comments last night on end of life planning. I want this one by Ralphdog to have more eyes on it because it’s factual and straightforward. From RossyFinch: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/19/800041407/community/top-comments-radical-reform-of-scotus-edition/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/