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Justice Stephen Breyer (liberal Supreme Court justice) warns that packing the Court would "erode trust"

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www.businessinsider.com

Justice Stephen Breyer says Biden packing the Supreme Court will make people 'lose trust' in the institution

Progressives have repeatedly urged Breyer, the court's oldest justice, to announce his retirement so Biden can nominate a younger liberal judge.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com


Despite calls to expand the size of the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer has stood firm in his belief that such a reform will erode public faith in the institution.

"One party could do it, I guess another party could do it. On the surface, it seems to me that you start changing these things around, and people will lose trust in the court," Breyer said in an excerpt of an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace airing Sunday.
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Breyer's scrutiny of court reform comes as progressive groups and some Democrats have revamped calls to "pack the court," meaning to add more justices to the bench in an attempt to balance its current 6-3 conservative majority. The push comes in light of the court's 5-4 decision last week to let a strict Texas law — that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest — stand.

Yet Breyer, the most senior liberal member of the bench, warned that any restructuring of the court by one party could lead to a future game of tug of war.
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"What goes around comes around. And if the Democrats can do it, the Republicans can do it," Breyer told NPR's Nina Totenberg in an interview published Friday.

President Joe Biden has not embraced demands from some in his party to expand the court's size. But in April he established an independent commission to investigate court reforms. The bipartisan group of experts has met to discuss the court and is expected to release a report with its findings in the fall.
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Breyer, the the oldest justice on the court at age 83, has been pressed by reporters on when he plans to step down from the court. Since Biden took office, progressives have repeatedly urged Breyer to announce his retirement so that Democrats, who narrowly hold a Senate majority, could approve his successor and ensure a liberal justice will sit on the bench for decades to come.

But Breyer has kept quiet about his future plans. "When exactly I should retire, or will retire, has many complex parts to it. I think I'm aware of most of them, and I am, and will consider them," he told NPR.
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I appreciate Breyer's tenure as a mostly solid liberal justice, but man, is he out of touch. Especially after the Supreme Court sat back and did nothing while Texas effectively overturned Roe. Trust in the Supreme Court has already declined, so I don't see how court packing would change that perception much at all.
 
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CreepingFear

CreepingFear

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Oct 27, 2017
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4bUV7Ls.gif
 
fracas

fracas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,652
i think the supreme court becoming a GOP-controlled shitshow has eroded trust pretty good tbh
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,628
The Democrats need to at some point wake the fuck up and realize that if they want to get anything done they need to go for the throat like republicans love doing. Honestly though I think that is the entire issue they actually Don't want to get anything done because most of them are all just diet republican's who love having excuses to why things can't get done.
 
BigAT

BigAT

Member
Oct 30, 2017
908
Weird that public trust would be eroded in nine unelected egomaniacs that serve until their bones turn to ash and determine the course of the country without being accountable to anyone.
 
nonoriri

nonoriri

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Apr 30, 2020
4,246
The general public barely understands what SCOTUS does and that's how they get away with this shit.
 
Brinbe

Brinbe

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
58,546
Terana
yeah, these justices can seriously fuck off forever. ego over the greater good. rbg was the same way.
 
Yahsper

Yahsper

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,536
I mean, he's not wrong though? Do this and the next GOP presidency will introduce another 5 court justices to get their majority. It solves nothing in the long run.
 
Parthenios

Parthenios

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
13,616
He's not wrong in that packing the SCotUS would likely erode the public's trust in its decisions or even view that it's a co-equal branch of government.

Where he's missing the forest for the trees is that court packing is just one tree in this forest, and there are plenty of other things that would erode the trust and prestige of the court (such as all the shit McConnell has done over the last 5 years) and at some point someone has to call time of death and just switch to a completely pragmatic approach.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
29,956
Obviously. Just because scotus has close to no public trust now doesn't mean it can't go a hell of a lot lower.
 

Dekim

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,302
"Nice" to see even liberal justices care more about their ego than what's good for the country. RBG staying on for as long as she did knowing her health issues was grossly irresponsible, and we are now paying the price for that selfishness. If Breyer doesn't get with the program soon, we will repeat that fatal mistake.
 
Mivey

Mivey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,830
I mean, instead of packing the courts, why not introduce term limits? I guess it would require a constitutional amendment, but it feels like an actual solution, which packing the courts really isn't.
That's what a lot of other western countries are doing for their highest courts, and it solves this issue that one president gets to assign a third of the court due to random bulshit.
 
Beefsquid

Beefsquid

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Oct 27, 2017
2,178
USA
Fascist theocratic villians on one side, and selfish out of touch assholes on the other. Don't think there is much faith left to lose.
 
Post Reply

Post Reply

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Aug 1, 2018
4,513
It's always weird that politicians, the media, pundits and shitbags like Breyer always frame "the public" from the point of view of Republicans.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,072
Pack the court and double the senate size. Fuck that. Shit is like this now because now the fate of law in the country is held only by 9 people.
 
UberTag

UberTag

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
15,381
Kitchener, ON
Can't wait until Breyer bails/retires/dies under the next Republican administration. Or does so when the Republicans have the Senate and Mitch comes up with a new "excuse of the day" to justify not filling said vacancy.
 

dapperbandit

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,162
Dicking around with the supreme court rules and structure would 100% blow up in the Democrats faces and it would take a handful of years for this to happen.
 
Dyle

Dyle

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The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,956
Post Reply said:
It's always weird that politicians, the media, pundits and shitbags like Breyer always frame "the public" from the point of view of Republicans.
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While more popular than not expanding among Democrats, there isn't a strong opinion among Democrats, and it is only slightly more popular among independents than Republicans. It just isn't a popular opinion at this point and would face heavy resistance from the public, let alone Congress.

morningconsult.com

Proposed Supreme Court Expansion Remains Unpopular

In the April 16-19 survey, voters were 20 percentage points more likely, at 46%, to say Congress should only allow nine justices to serve on the high court than they were to be in favor of passing a law to add more Supreme Court jurists.
morningconsult.com
 
Shard Shinjuku

Shard Shinjuku

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,083
Tampa
Eh, court packing was tried back when FDR had a solid dem majority backing him in both chambers in Congress and it still didn't take so I doubt it is every truly a thing that will happen.
 
thecouncil

thecouncil

Member
Oct 29, 2017
12,342
Even more puzzling...

Justices must be "hyper vigilant to make sure they're not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too," Barrett said at a lecture hosted by the University of Louisville's McConnell Center. Introduced by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell...
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bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,895
They are not going to pack the court. Once they start the Republicans will just pack it even more once they get back the whitehouse and congress.

This is not helpful. The SC was a huge issue when Clinton ran and she lost. This is the consequence of losing an election.

Focus on what can actually be passed and get done in the limited period they have left before they likely lose the House in the midterm.
 
Mariachi507

Mariachi507

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,315
"If the democrats can do it then the republicans can do it."

They already would have. This is why we keep fucking losing. The opposition doesn't have honor or care for any rules. They will take what they can to increase their power and riches at the cost of the American people.
 
MIMIC

MIMIC

Member
Dec 18, 2017
8,336
So what is the end game with court packing? Do people think Republicans won't do it, too? Is this supposed to be a temporary fix until they get power?
 
Alpheus

Alpheus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,664
Just eroding trust for the Court? Well then we're in luck we don't have much of that to lose, so why not do it anyway and materially improve the lives of millions of Americans by actually protecting their rights under the law.

Really hate this man.
 
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