Court Packing Archives - The Virginia Star

Commentary: The Left Wants to Delegitimize the Supreme Court

October 31, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden-Harris administration has made undermining trust in institutions a central tactic. While they claim to fight authoritarianism, their real battle is against the checks and balances that limit their power. For them, separation of powers, Article III, and the First Amendment are affronts to their quest for centralized authority.

Leaks, once a tool for exposing corruption, are now wielded as political weapons — not to uncover wrongdoing but to sow chaos and erode public confidence in the courts. This is not about transparency; it’s about controlling the narrative.

Frustrated by String of Conservative Wins, Democrats Go All Out to Delegitimize U.S. Supreme Court

June 16, 2024 Just the News

Supreme Court justices with Attorney Brian Fletcher (composite image)

After several decades of conservative control of the Supreme Court and a string of rulings against their legislative and social priorities, Democrats and left-leaning media appear to be mounting an all-out assault against the judicial branch, casting doubt on its legitimacy and impartiality, while working to undercut the reputations and credibility of its more conservative justices.

Ostensibly conservative since the appointment of Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 1986, the court has generally not attracted comparable partisan scrutiny to the extent that it has under the Biden administration. The Roberts court, however, currently boasts three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, who have solidified the court’s conservative character and handed conservatives decades-sought wins on abortion, gun rights, and affirmative action.

Commentary: The Left Only Sees Success by Altering the Rules of Governance

May 6, 2022May 5, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Court packing—the attempt to enlarge the size of the Supreme Court for short-term political purposes—used to be a dirty word in the history of American jurisprudence.

The tradition of a nine-person Supreme Court is now 153 years old. The last attempt to expand it for political gain was President Franklin Roosevelt’s failed effort in 1937. FDR’s gambit was so blatantly political that even his overwhelming Democratic majority in Congress rebuffed him.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Fundraises on Expanding Supreme Court

March 6, 2022March 5, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a Saturday fundraising touting the idea of expanding the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) while praising President Joe Biden’s recent SCOTUS nominee.

“Congress has expanded the Supreme Court seven times before,” the subject line of the email said. “It’s now time for the eighth.”

Liberals Push for Court-Packing After SCOTUS Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

January 16, 2022 Admin

Liberal commentators took to social media to express their disappointment following the Supreme Court’s decision to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that Biden’s mandate, passed through the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was unconstitutional, invoking the “major questions” doctrine and ruling that Congress did not grant OSHA the authority to issue the mandate.

Justice Breyer to Those Pushing Court Packing: ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’

September 13, 2021September 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Justice Stephen Breyer issued a stark warning to those pushing to pack the Supreme Court: “what goes around comes around.”

Breyer made the remark during an interview with NPR published Friday, ahead of the release of his new book, “The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics.” He has pushed back on calls to add seats to the court — and on progressives urging him to retire — on multiple recent occasions.

“What goes around comes around,” he said. “And if the Democrats can do it, then the Republicans can do it.”

46 Apply for Seven Seats on the Virginia Court of Appeals

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 Eric Burk

Virginia’s Court of Appeals is expanding by six seats and filling a seventh seat left vacant. 46 people have applied for the positions, triggering delays to meet a July 1 deadline. Still, the General Assembly is expected to fill the seats this summer at a yet-to-be-scheduled special session.

In the first 2021 General Assembly special session, legislators passed SB 1261, adding the six seats to the court.

Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose Expanding the U.S. Supreme Court

April 21, 2021April 20, 2021 The Center Square

Democrats enthralled their base and alarmed Republicans with the recent announcement of a new push to add four justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the latest polling suggests the majority of Americans don’t favor expanding the highest court in the land.

New polling released by Rasmussen Tuesday found that only a third of likely voters support adding justices to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, 55% of likely voters oppose expanding the bench, which has remained at nine justices for over 150 years.

The poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters between April 15 and April 18 of last week. Respondents were asked:

“The U.S. Supreme Court as defined by law has nine members – a chief justice and eight associate justices, all appointed to lifetime terms. Do you favor or oppose increasing the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?”

Biden’s Court Packing Committee Contains an Army of Professors Open to Altering Supreme Court

April 19, 2021April 18, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Joe Biden walking with his administration, wearing masks

President Joe Biden unveiled a new commission to explore the possibility of packing the Supreme Court. Although the commission does contain some constitutional originalists, it is heavily staffed by legal professors with revisionist views on the nation’s top judicial body.

The Biden administration unveiled a “Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States,” which will “provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform” — including “the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court” and “the membership and size of the Court.”

Although the White House insists that the commission is meant to be “bipartisan,” several of its members — both right-leaning and left-leaning — appear to hold some degree of revisionist views on the Supreme Court.

Fifteen Secretaries of State Endorse Keep Nine Amendment

February 10, 2021February 9, 2021 Jason M. Reynolds

A group of 15 secretaries of state this week issued their support for the “Keep Nine Amendment” recently introduced in Congress, marking the latest victory for the organization seeking to preserve the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Keep Nine Amendment said in a statement that the 15 sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Senate Approves Adding Six Judges to Virginia’s Appeals Court

February 9, 2021February 8, 2021 Eric Burk

A bill to add six judges to the Virginia Court of Appeals passed the Senate 21 to 18 on Friday. The bill would also create a right to appeal, something that every other state already has, but that advocates say is currently impossible due to the court’s manpower shortage. The court has just 11 judges, while states with similar populations often have more. However, Republicans oppose the bill because judges would be elected in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.

SB 1261 sponsor State Senator John Edwards (D-Roanoke) said in committee on January 25 that Virginia’s current system gives no automatic right of appeal in any Virginia court.

Growing Chorus of Lawmakers Join Effort to Prevent Packing Supreme Court

February 6, 2021February 5, 2021 Jason M. Reynolds

An organization dedicated to preserving the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court reports it has won several large victories in the past week.

Keep Nine said in a statement that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has endorsed its work, making him the first governor to do so.

Google Suspends Ads for Bipartisan Supreme Court Advocacy Group

January 28, 2021January 27, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

A bipartisan group that advocates for an independent Supreme Court is crying foul after Google allegedly refused to place their online advertisements.

“Keep Nine, a bipartisan organization that advocates for an independent Supreme Court,has had its Google ads suspended in an arbitrary move by the website,” ValueWalk reported. “According to Google, the ad was disapproved because of a ‘Sensitive Event’ surrounding the election, that event being Joe Biden’s inauguration as president Wednesday.”

Arizona Lawmaker Introduces First-Ever Resolution Against Court-Packing

January 10, 2021January 9, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

A newly-elected member of the Arizona House of Representatives Tuesday announced a resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment against court-packing.

“Democrats’ stated intentions to abuse our nation’s constitutional separation of powers by packing the Supreme Court are not merely an assault on the rule of law, they are a blatant attempt to politicize the world’s most respected legal body,” State Representative-Elect Jake Hoffman (R-AZ-12) said in a press release. “Protecting the independence and integrity of the United States Supreme Court is an ethical and moral imperative that rises to a level of public policy importance rivaled by few other issues.”

Commentary: End Court Packing Threat

January 3, 2021January 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Congressional Democrats have promised to pack the Supreme Court if they take control and Joe Biden’s fraud-ridden election stands. Senate stalwarts like Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga), and David Perdue (R-Ga.) are leading the charge to end this threat by amending the United States Constitution to specify that the number of Supreme Court Justices will be nine, ending the court packing threat once and for all.

Warnock Would Be ‘Rubber Stamp’ for Democratic Agendas Including Packing Supreme Court, Senator Loeffler’s Campaign Says

December 8, 2020December 7, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

Raphael Warnock would be a “rubber stamp” for radical Democratic agendas that include packing the Supreme Court, the campaign for U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) said.

Loeffler’s campaign on Monday rapped Warnock for repeatedly deflecting questions on the topic.

Commentary: A Biden Court-Packing Plan Could Be Worse Than FDR’s

November 1, 2020October 31, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Still fighting off the tail-end of the Great Depression, Americans gave President Franklin Delano Roosevelt a landslide victory over Republican challenger Alf Landon in 1936. Roosevelt, keen to see his New Deal legislation brought to fruition, was frustrated again and again by the Supreme Court.

Almost Two in Three Voters Oppose Biden Packing the Supreme Court, Poll Finds

October 23, 2020October 22, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Nearly two in three voters say they oppose 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden adding more Supreme Court justices if he is elected, according to a poll exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Marist poll, sponsored by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, found that 61% of voters oppose Biden packing the court. This number includes 63% of Independents and 31% of Democrats.

Paul Summers Commentary: Keep Nine Amendment to Permanently Ban Court Packing

October 4, 2020October 3, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

At the September 29th Presidential Debate, Democrat nominee Joe Biden refused to answer a question about whether he would expand the size of the Supreme Court. It is more likely that he and VP nominee Kamala Harris will, if elected, seek to pack the Court so they can appoint a new majority of more liberal Justices.

Minnesota, Virginia Congressmen Propose Constitutional Amendment to Limit Supreme Court Size at Nine Justices

September 26, 2020September 25, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Reps. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN-07) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) said they want to make sure that neither political party can ever pack the Supreme Court.

In a bipartisan joint press release issued Thursday, the representatives said they introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permanently set the number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices at nine.