Reform Commission says expanding Supreme Court could lead to issues

President Biden’s Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States is out with a draft of its findings on reforming the Supreme Court. The commission looked at several issues, including the shadow docket, term limits, and changing the number of justices. 

“Court expansion is likely to undermine, rather than enhance, the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and its role in the constitutional system, and there are significant reasons to be skeptical that expansion would serve democratic values”, the report said.

It also says the commission members were divided about this, appearing more positive about the benefits of imposing term limits and staggering appointments out over time. But they noted it might not be possible to make such a change without amending the U.S. Constitution.

The documents are to be used as a source of debate by members of the commission who are holding a meeting on Friday and will prepare a report for Biden and turn it over to him by mid-November.

Biden signed an executive order in April creating the 36-member bipartisan commission in response to calls from the left for seats to be added in order to counteract the 6-3 conservative majority on the nation’s highest court.

For more on the Supreme Court and the history of its politics, check out ‘Supreme Court Justices as umpires? History says otherwise.’