What does expanding the Supreme Court mean?
WHEN it comes to the Supreme Court the rules go back to when the Constitution was written in 1787.
The number of Supreme Court Justices has been nine since then.
What does expanding the Supreme Court mean?
Expanding the Supreme Court is simply changing the number of members on the court.
During its history the Supreme Court has only been expanded seven times, Newsweek reports.
At the time of the Constitution’s writing, the founding fathers did not put much thought into the size of the court, Joshua Braver, an expert in court-packing told Newsweek.
“They weren’t particularly sure about the role the Supreme Court was going to play, and they weren’t particularly worried about it because I don’t think they imagined that the Supreme Court would play a particularly prominent role in American politics.
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“It was kind of the least prestigious branch at the time,” Braver said.
Increasing the number of Justices on the court has helped the court process more cases.
Retired judge Nancy Gertner told Newsweek that a constitutional amendment is not required to expand the court.
“It takes only legislation, as in it does not require a constitutional amendment,” Gertner said.
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“Someone would have to propose legislation expanding the court. The legislation would then have to be approved by the House and approved by the Senate.”
She also explains that currently the Democrats “would need 60 votes as opposed to 51 votes to expand the court.”
The reasoning behind this is that the Democrats are currently not united when it comes to expanding the court, per Gertner.
Gertner told Newsweek that the chances of expanding the Supreme Court at this time “are not high.”
Who appoints Supreme Court Justices?
Both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government are involved in appointing judges to the highest court in the land.
Only the President can nominate someone for a vacancy on the Court.
Following the President’s nomination, the Senate votes to confirm the nominee.
A simple majority is required to confirm the President’s nominee.
What are the qualifications to be on the Supreme Court?
There are set rules to be President and other roles in the federal government.
However, the Constitution does not state any specific rules to be on the Supreme Court, the official Supreme Court website states.
Age, education, profession, or native-born citizenship are not qualifications required to be on the court.
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Justices on the court are able to serve as long as they wish as long as they are on “good Behaviour.”
The Justices are allowed to serve for life unless they are removed from office by impeachment.