Currently the Legislative branch is trying to expand the Supreme Court by adding 4 new seats to the Court to make 13 justices instead of 9 justices. The Constitution does not outline specifically how many justices must be appointed. Some argue this is going to "pack the court" with liberal justices. Others argue is it going to create a balance from the current conservative tipped bench presently in place.
Consider the following questions. If your last name starts with A-M, you will argue IN FAVOR of expanding the Supreme Court. If your last name starts with N-Z, you will argue AGAINST expanding the Supreme Court.
1) What are the pros and cons to expanding the Supreme Court?
2) Do you think this is merely a political move or a necessary move?
3) What are your thoughts on this issue?
4) Do you think the framers intended the Supreme Court to be expanded and or packed on one side or the other?
Sample Solution
A-M: The pros to expanding the Supreme Court are that it would create a more balanced bench and bring in new justices with different perspectives, potentially providing greater insight into complex legal matters. This could also increase the amount of cases heard by the Supreme Court each year, leading to faster decisions and reducing backlogs. The cons are that it could be seen as "packing the court" with biased judges, which goes against our democratic principles of impartiality and fairness. Additionally, this may create further divisions between ideological groups and their respective political parties.
N-Z: The pros to not expanding the Supreme Court are that it would maintain our current democratic structure which values impartiality and fairness when interpreting laws. It would also prevent potential biases from becoming too extreme on either side of the political spectrum. The cons are that having a smaller number of justices can lead to longer wait times for certain cases to be heard or decided upon as well as limited resources for these judgments due to heavier workloads per justice or judge. It could also lead to rulings being made without full consideration of all viewpoints and perspectives, resulting in poorer quality decisions overall.