Last week, Democrats once again raised the idea of packing the Supreme Court with liberal justices after a series of decisions that did not align with their views. The court ruled against race-based admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, ruled in favor of a Christian graphic designer’s right to refuse making wedding websites for same-sex couples, and struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.
In response, Democrats expressed outrage and called for expanding the size of the Supreme Court to dilute the conservative majority. Representative Adam Schiff even labeled it as “unpacking” the court and claimed it was not extreme or unprecedented. Schiff and others argued that the court’s opinions were extreme, and expanding the court was necessary to restore balance.
Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also voiced support for packing the court, emphasizing the need to reform and expand it in order to counter what they perceived as the court rolling back civil rights and amassing unchecked power. Liberal academics joined the chorus, making court expansion a litmus test for Democrats seeking federal office.
However, despite the vocal support from Democrats, polls show that a majority of Americans oppose adding justices to the bench. A survey conducted by the Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports found that 55% of voters are against expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices, while 64% of Democrats are in favor of adding four more justices.
Conservatives view the idea of court packing as a dangerous political maneuver that would undermine the independence and integrity of the judiciary. They argue that expanding the court in response to unfavorable rulings would set a dangerous precedent, politicizing the judiciary and jeopardizing the principle of separation of powers.
From a conservative perspective, the calls to pack the court reflect a disregard for the Constitution and a desire to manipulate the judiciary for political gain. Rather than seeking to expand the court, conservatives advocate for upholding the integrity of the judiciary and respecting the constitutional role of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of legal disputes. They believe in appointing qualified justices who interpret the law impartially, rather than attempting to stack the court with ideological allies.
