Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Supreme Court justices should have term limits, and left the door open for expansion of the nine-justi…
The number of judges has been changed by Congress quite a few times for various reasons.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number at six: a chief justice and five associate justices. In 1807, Congress increased the number of justices to seven; in 1837, the number was bumped up to nine; and in 1863, it rose to 10. In 1866, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act, which shrank the number of justices back down to seven and prevented President Andrew Johnson from appointing anyone new to the court. Three years later, in 1869, Congress raised the number of justices to nine, where it has stood ever since. In 1937, in an effort to create a court more friendly to his New Deal programs, President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to convince Congress to pass legislation that would allow a new justice to be added to the court—for a total of up to 15 members—for every justice over 70 who opted not to retire.
The best justification I’ve seen for a specific number that’s not pulled out of thin air is to set the number the same as the number of federal appellate courts, currently 12, with each Justice essentially overseeing an appellate circuit. This is something they already do, but it is no longer a 1:1 ratio with only 9 Justices.
That’s exactly what the actual policy on ties is. Last decision from the lower court stands, but does not set a precedent.
No matter how many justices you set up on the court, you have to have a policy on ties. But I think with an odd number you do a lot to reduce the frequency of tied decisions.
The number of judges has been changed by Congress quite a few times for various reasons.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number at six: a chief justice and five associate justices. In 1807, Congress increased the number of justices to seven; in 1837, the number was bumped up to nine; and in 1863, it rose to 10. In 1866, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act, which shrank the number of justices back down to seven and prevented President Andrew Johnson from appointing anyone new to the court. Three years later, in 1869, Congress raised the number of justices to nine, where it has stood ever since. In 1937, in an effort to create a court more friendly to his New Deal programs, President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to convince Congress to pass legislation that would allow a new justice to be added to the court—for a total of up to 15 members—for every justice over 70 who opted not to retire.
The best justification I’ve seen for a specific number that’s not pulled out of thin air is to set the number the same as the number of federal appellate courts, currently 12, with each Justice essentially overseeing an appellate circuit. This is something they already do, but it is no longer a 1:1 ratio with only 9 Justices.
It seems like 12 would be undesirable because of ties. Perhaps 12 associates plus 1 chief justice, for 13 total?
I’m aware that even with an odd number you can still reach ties when a justice recuses, or when the court is temporarily lacking its full complement.
You could just say a tie kicks it back down to a lower court.
That’s exactly what the actual policy on ties is. Last decision from the lower court stands, but does not set a precedent.
No matter how many justices you set up on the court, you have to have a policy on ties. But I think with an odd number you do a lot to reduce the frequency of tied decisions.