Fast Facts for April 9, 2021
Interesting move –
President Biden signed an executive order today creating a commission to study the possibility of reforming the supreme court.
You may remember on the campaign trail there was a lot of talk about “court packing” – meaning – adding justices to the bench so the political balance of the court is more even.
Let me be clear – this executive order is *not* that. Not even by a long shot.
This order forms the commission which will in 180 days produce a report that analyzes topics like the court’s role in the constitutional system, the length of service and turnover of justices, the membership and size of the court, the court’s case selection among other things.
This commission will be a bipartisan group of 36 experts who specialize in the supreme court, scotus reform, legal scholars, former federal judges and lawyers who have appeared before the court.
The judiciary act of 1869 set the level of justices at nine. The current court has six conservative and three liberal justices. But the number of justices has varied from five to ten since 1789.
List of commission members: 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/
Biden Executive Order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/09/executive-order-on-the-establishment-of-the-presidential-commission-on-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states/
