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Have you had the “Court expansion” talk yet? This holiday season, spark some interesting table conversations by sharing the facts about expanding the Supreme Court!
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John,
It’s been a chaotic year — and let’s face it: we all need and deserve a break. For some, the holiday season is the perfect time to be with your family, turn off the never-ending cycle of bad news on Twitter, and reconnect.
Reuniting with extended family (either in-person or virtually) can be a tricky situation. In fact, most suggestions for dealing with family dynamics at the holidays will suggest that you avoid discussing politics altogether. But we disagree.
That’s why I want to suggest a new conservation starter for this holiday season: The Supreme Court.
Check out our quick tips to talking about Court expansion this holiday season — and then SHARE it with your social network.
Why talk about the Court? It’s simple. We can’t come together as a country to solve big national challenges like climate change, racial justice, the right wing’s relentless assault on reproductive rights, access to affordable health care, or economic inequality unless we recognize some serious issues with the highest court in the country.
Here’s some FAQs to help you out:
(1) Isn’t having NINE justices on the Court written the Constitution?
Nope! There is no requirement in the Constitution for any fixed number of justices. Congress has actually changed the Supreme Court’s size 7 times through legislation, previously having set the number of justices on the Court to as few as 5 and as many as 10. And of course, it had only eight justices for almost a year when Senate Republicans violated all historical norms to hold the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat open until it could be filled by a Republican president.
(2) We can’t change the Supreme Court! What would the Founders say?
They'd say to follow the Jefferson precedent. The Founders understood that the way to deal with partisan efforts to steal Supreme Court seats was to address the problem head on by changing the size of the Court to undo political norm-breaking. After Thomas Jefferson won the presidential election, the outgoing Congress eliminated a Supreme Court seat to try to prevent him from filling it. He responded by working with his new supporters in Congress to add that seat back as soon as he took office.
(3) Wouldn’t expanding the Court be hard to do?
Court expansion can be done without a constitutional amendment: all it would take is for Congress to pass a bill and President Biden to sign it into law. And — there’s already a bill in the U.S. House and Senate to do this!
The Judiciary Act of 2021 would add 4 seats, taking the size of the Court from 9 to 13 justices to match the number of circuit courts and has already been co-sponsored by over 40 members of Congress including Senators Ed Markey and Tina Smith, as well as Reps. Jerry Nadler, Barbara Lee, Hank Johnson and Mondaire Jones.
The momentum is on our side and the upcoming holidays give us a great opportunity to keep up our effort to take back our Court. And you can start right now — by learning the facts about Court expansion and sharing with your friends and family this holiday season. Can you challenge yourself to talk to just ONE family member about Court expansion?
Republicans stole the Supreme Court to obstruct progress and undermine democracy. We have to take it back
Thanks for all you do,
Obet Montalvo
Digital Director, Take Back the Court
PS: As we get ready for the Holidays we are grateful for building this community which has been a major factor in adding momentum to our campaign.
If you'd like to help us keep up the momentum consider chipping $5 to Take Back the Court here.
