Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by minikites on Thursday April 15, 2021 @09:25AM
(#26820163)
The Supreme Court is an extremely political institution and it's nice to see the Democrats finally realize this. If the court had been 6-3 in favor of the Democrats, Republicans would have done this years ago.
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Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by cm2187 on Thursday April 15, 2021 @09:46AM
(#26820416)
> If the court had been 6-3 in favor of the Democrats, Republicans would have done this years ago.
History suggests the opposite. The only attempt was a democrat one.
https://www.weblinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/supre...
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by emodendroket on Thursday April 15, 2021 @10:04AM
(#26820631)
Warren Court aside, the Supreme Court is typically more useful for conservative ends.
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by waterheater on Thursday April 15, 2021 @10:40AM
(#26821084)
The purpose of the SC is widely understood to determine constitutionality. Interpreting the law is perhaps considered more "conservative", but that is good thing because Justices are unelected. Legislate (liberal, conservative, or otherwise) in Congress, not the SC.
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by emodendroket on Thursday April 15, 2021 @10:48AM
(#26821164)
Here in the practical world, being able to throw out legislation is naturally conservative and, besides that, structural forces make the Supreme Court more conservative than the electorate. The idea that the Court should rule in an impartial way is nice as a soundbite, but does not and has never really described how it operates.
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by waterheater on Thursday April 15, 2021 @01:26PM
(#26823517)
Agreed, and there's nothing wrong with a judiciary being conservative, particularly since they're unelected and should not act in a manner which legislates. In a control theory sense, the judiciary is an example of feedback, which more naturally lends itself to the "conservative" mindset with its focus on refinement rather than expansion.
Anyone who thinks the SC shall be a beacon of impartiality doesn't understand that government is inherently political, the SC notwithstanding. Each Justice will sit on the bench with a particular lens. In that sense, the SC is most just when each Justice sees the world a bit differently with a distortion towards the legal documents themselves. I expect the expansion of seats will decrease a focus on legal documents and focus more on expanding the objectives of a particularly political organization, which abuses the judiciary.
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by emodendroket on Thursday April 15, 2021 @01:44PM
(#26823741)
I’m not persuaded that purportedly originalist judges who sit on the bench now are really doing what they say, rather than finding post hoc rationalizations for their preferred outcomes.
Re:Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court
by rileymat2 on Thursday April 15, 2021 @09:31AM
(#26820239)
It is impossible to know, but I suspect the Garland nomination is the key factor that made this politically palatable.
In this hypothetical scenario we don’t know what precipitated the 6-3 majority.