DEMOCRATS ARE PLAYING a dangerous game by toying with the judiciary, said liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. It would be a bad idea to turn the Supreme Court into a super legislature. Adding justices by packing the court would undermine the court’s legitimacy with the American public, with lasting harm.

April 9, President Joe Biden signed an executive order creating a Presidential Commission to study the issue. The 36-member panel is to study the idea of expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices from the current nine. We’re told it’s good for democracy.

Proponents say there is a precedent for a 13-member court. That would equal one justice per circuit court of appeals. The commission has 180 days to make its recommendations.

Biden has no obligation to accept the recommendations. Even if the plan fails, just the effort to intimidate the Supreme Court will have dire consequences, legal scholars have warned. Congressional progressives have already introduced their own legislation to pack the court. It’s called the Judiciary Act of 2021.

The court has had nine members since 1869. Franklin Roosevelt tried to expand the court during his presidency, but the Democrat-controlled Congress rejected the proposal. Current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to wait on the commission to speak before taking a stand, basically shelving discussion. Public opinion polls are against the effort.

What threatens “our democracy” these days? When progressives refer to our democracy, what they mean is their democracy. To be a member of their democracy, one has to share their beliefs. If you’re not in agreement with them, you’re out.

Republican Party appointees now hold a 6-3 majority on the court. Progressive Democrats want to pack the court with four new liberal judges to regain a 7-6 majority. Liberals said nothing for many years when the majority was 5-4 in their favor. Breyer said there would be little value in a court that has been corrupted by fear.

If progressives are successful in packing the court, legal experts say serious damage would be inflicted because it would show the court would be open to political pressure. The judges would be afraid of making controversial decisions that would subject them to further intimidation.

“The threat of court packing is vandalism on a scale far beyond the destruction of statues,” wrote Philip Hamburger, professor at Columbia Law School. “It would destroy the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and its decisions.”

Only by standing on their office of independent judgment can judges preserve their reputation for integrity. This is the only way to preserve the ideal and reality of an independent bench, said Hamburger in a recent article.



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MARTIN LUTHER King Jr. once wrote “I’m coming to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society are making a much better use of time than the people of good will and I fear that I will have regret, not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people, but for the appalling silence from good people.”

Earlier this year, a San Francisco, Calif., school board voted 6-1 to rename 44 schools because the prominent figures were suddenly unworthy of the honor. Those targeted were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster and Paul Revere.

These villains are accused of promoting slavery, genocide, the oppression of women or “otherwise significantly diminishing the opportunities of those among us to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Since when did putting the name of an American icon on the walls of a school become a declaration of perfection? A society that rummages through history to hold those of the past to the woke standards of today will soon have no heroes to honor.

We don’t need to make this country great again. This country is great, that’s not what our challenge is. The challenge is making greatness available to everybody. We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.