{"id":430625,"date":"2021-04-16T15:21:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=430625"},"modified":"2021-04-16T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:21:32","slug":"a-look-back-on-court-packing-attempts-in-us-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-look-back-on-court-packing-attempts-in-us-history\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look Back On \u2018Court Packing\u2019 Attempts in US History"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-look-back-on-court-packing-attempts-in-us-history%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=430625&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2430.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>According to reports, President Biden is considering the possibility of expanding the Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The notion of \u201ccourt pac<\/span><span>king\u201d \u2014 ad<\/span><span>ding more Justices to erase the conservative Supreme Court majority established by former President Trump <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> has been floated by Democratic leadership since the 2020 election cycle. Many left-wing political figures <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> including Democratic Sen. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/11\/10\/politics\/joe-manchin-supreme-court-packing-cnntv\/index.html\"><span>Joe Manchin<\/span><\/a><span> (D-WV) and deceased Justice <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2019\/07\/24\/ginsburg-expand-supreme-court-1428426\"><span>Ruth Bader Ginsburg<\/span><\/a><span> herself <\/span><span>\u2014 <\/span><span>staunchly opposed such proposals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nevertheless, the White House announced last Friday that Biden signed an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/04\/09\/president-biden-to-sign-executive-order-creating-the-presidential-commission-on-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states\/\"><span>executive order<\/span><\/a><span> forming a commission composed of a \u201cbipartisan\u201d group of experts on the \u201ccourt reform debate.\u201d The commission <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> staffed largely by constitutional re<\/span><span>visionist law professors \u2014 will examine the \u201clength of service and turnover of justices on the Court,\u201d as well as the \u201cmembership and size of the Court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Although President Biden gave the commission 180 days to complete its report, some Democratic politicians are already readying their attempts at changing the Supreme Court\u2019s composition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-democrats-introducing-legislation-to-pack-supreme-court-with-4-new-justices-report-says\"><span>The Intercept<\/span><\/a><span> reported, Congressional Democrats are planning to <\/span><span>unveil legislation that would \u201cadd four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13, from the current 9.\u201d The bill is sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), as well as Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Democrats\u2019 attempts at court packing are by no means new in American history. During politically tumultuous eras, officials on both sides of the aisle have tampered with the Supreme Court\u2019s composition in order to enact their agendas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>New Seats<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The Supreme Court did not always have nine seats. In fact, it started with six.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Keith Whittington <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> a political science professor at Princeton University, as well as a member of Biden\u2019s Supreme Court commission who appears to disagree with modern-day court packing <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> wrote in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/why-supreme-court-has-nine-justices-opinion-1540685\"><span>Newsweek<\/span><\/a><span> that the first Congress created a Supreme Court with six total Justices. President George Washington was able to appoint every Justice on the Supreme Court under the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/george-washington\/the-first-president\/george-washington-and-the-supreme-court\/\"><span>Judiciary Act of 1789<\/span><\/a><span>, as well as four more Justices throughout his tenure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For the next century, Justices spent much of their time \u201criding circuit\u201d <\/span><span>\u2014<\/span><span> traveling to hear cases across the United States. More seats were added to the Supreme Court as the Justices\u2019 responsibilities increased, alongside westward expansion. Circuit lines were redrawn, and three new Justices were appointed after Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio joined the union.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Whittington e<\/span><span>xplains, politics were \u201cunavoidably involved in the timing of the creation of the new seats.\u201d However, \u201cthe expansion of the Court from six to nine justices responded to a widely recognized increase in the judicial workload.\u201d The new states \u2014 as well as the Justices themselves \u2014 \u201chad been lobbying for the new seats for years before the stars finally aligned in Congress.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Circuit riding was \u201csignificantly reduced\u201d in 1869 and eliminated in 1911.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Post-Civil War Reconstruction<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>After the Civil War, the Supreme Court was caught in the crossfire of a feud between President Andrew Johnson and a deeply Republican Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Kyle Sammin wrote for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2016\/10\/31\/congress-refused-confirm-supreme-court-justices-can\/\"><span>The Federalist<\/span><\/a><span> in 2016, Republicans w<\/span><span>ere \u201cinitially optimistic that Johnson would work with them to ensure their vision of a new, more equal order in the South, but he quickly dashed their hopes.\u201d Johnson \u2014 a Republican who had identified with the Democratic Party until his ascension to the Presidency \u2014 \u201cpardoned almost all of the former rebels and sought to readmit the seceded states with no changes to their legal and political makeup other than abolishing slavery, which was mandated by the Thirteenth Amendment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Southern states began restricting former slaves\u2019 civil rights, Republicans passed their own reconstruction plan and repeatedly overrode President Johnson\u2019s vetoes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Congressional Republicans proposed and passed the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, which required that \u201cno vacancy in the office of the office of associate justice of the Supreme Court shall be filled by appointment until the number of associate justices shall be reduced to six.\u201d Johnson was thereby unable to appoint more Supreme Court Justices. As late historian Stanley Kutler <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www-jstor-org.proxy.library.upenn.edu\/stable\/2204715?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents\"><span>wrote<\/span><\/a><span> in 1966, Johnson\u2019s biographers viewed the legislation as \u201cpart of the congressional attack upon the \u2018foundations\u2019 of the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whittington says that \u201cas soon as Johnson left office, Congress brought the Court back up to nine justices, where it has remained ever since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>FDR<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>When Republicans lost control of the federal government during the Great Depression, the question of court packing was again raised \u2014 this time, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a handful of his Democratic allies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Supreme Court had been a terror to Roosevel<\/span><span>t\u2019s efforts to pass his New Deal agenda. As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/roosevelt-announces-court-packing-plan\"><span>History<\/span><\/a><span> explains, Justices \u201chad struck down several key pieces of New Deal legislation on the grounds that the laws delegated an unconstitutional amount of authority to the executive branch and the federal government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whittington explains that although Roosevelt did not have the opportunity to fill a Supreme Court vacancy during his first term, he \u201cdeclined to endorse court-packing and refused to even talk about the courts as he cruised to reelection in 1936.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, soon after he won a second term, Roosevelt \u201crevealed a shocking plan to \u2018reorganize\u2019 the federal judiciary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 1937, according to History, Roosevelt issued a proposal \u201cto provide retirement at full pay for all members of the court over 70.\u201d For Justices refusing to retire, an \u201cassistant\u201d with full voting rights was to be appointed.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Although the Senate was controlled by Democrats, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued a scathing retort to Roosevelt\u2019s agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis is the first time in the history of our country that a proposal to alter the decisions of the court by enlarging its personnel has been so boldly made,\u201d they wrote. \u201cLet us now set a salutary precedent that will never be violated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLet us of the Seventy-fifth Congress, in words that will never be disregarded by any succeeding Congress, declare that we would rather have an independent Court, a fearless Court, a Court that will dare to announce its honest opinions in what it believes to be the defense of the liberties of the people, than a Court that, out of fear or sense of obligation to the appointing power, or factional passion, approves any measure we may enact,\u201d they proclaimed. \u201cWe are not the judges of the judges. We are not above the Constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The plan \u2014 which effectively would have granted Roosevelt the majority in a fifteen-member Supreme Court \u2014 was never enacted. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act, which remain lasting legacies of the Roosevelt presidency, as constitutional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSince then, even when the Court has issued decisions that obstructed a president\u2019s political agenda, court-packing was understood to be beyond the pale,\u201d concluded Whittington. \u201cCourt-packing would be an announcement that politicians are above the law, and few politicians have been so bold as to attempt to grasp that mantle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Time will tell whether Biden \u2014 who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatodaysun.com\/biden-is-using-fdr-as-his-role-model-hes-made-the-no-drama-obama-era-look-wild\/\"><span>hung<\/span><\/a><span> a portrait of Roosevelt above the fireplace in the Oval Office \u2014 will succeed in packing the Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>member<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to reports, President Biden is considering the possibility of expanding the Supreme Court.The notion of \u201ccourt packing\u201d \u2014 adding more Justices to erase the conservative Supreme Court majority established &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312324,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2430.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"A Look Back On \u2018Court Packing\u2019 Attempts in US History","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2430.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"A Look Back On \u2018Court Packing\u2019 Attempts in US History","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}