3min chapter

Notes from America with Kai Wright cover image

The Case for 29 Supreme Court Justices

Notes from America with Kai Wright

CHAPTER

The Importance of Moderation in the Supreme Court

Think about how different it would be if our Supreme Court operated on a panel system. Overloading the court with justices would essentially force them to adopt the random assignment process used by every other court. Without knowing which justices they'd get, litigants and red state attorney generals would have to tailor their arguments to a more center mass mainstream temperament. Most people say that they do not want the court to be too extreme to either side. I think that argument is bollocks.

00:00
Speaker 1
Think about how different it would be if our Supreme Court operated on a panel system. Instead of showing up to court knowing that six conservative justices were against you, or one or two conservative justices that you invited onto your super yacht are guaranteed to hear your case, you literally wouldn't know which justices you'd get on your panel. Even on a six, three conservative court, you might draw a panel that was two to one liberals, or you might draw Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett instead of Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch, which could make a huge difference. Either way, you wouldn't know which justices you'd get. Not only does that make a big difference in terms of the appearance of fairness, especially in this time when some justices are openly corrupt, it makes a big difference in terms of what kinds of cases and arguments people would bring to the court. Without knowing which justices they'd get, litigants, and red state attorney generals would have to tailor their arguments to a more center mass mainstream temperament instead of merely shooting their shot and hoping the arch conservatives can bully a moderate or two to vote with them. Now, you can do panels with nine or 13 justices, but you pretty much have to do panels with 29 justices. Overloading the court with justices would essentially force them to adopt the random assignment process used by every other court. That would be good. Sure, litigants could always hope for on-bok review where the full partisan makeup of the court could be brought to bear. But getting a majority of 29 justices to overrule a panel decision requires 15 votes. Consider that right now, you only need four votes, a minority of the nine member court, to get the full court to hear a case. I'm no mathlete, but I'm pretty sure that 15 is just a higher bar. That brings me to my next big point about expanding the court to 29. Moderation. Most people say that they do not want the court to be too extreme to either side. Generally, I think that argument is bollocks. I, in fact, do want the court to be extreme, and it's defense of voting rights, women's rights, and human rights. But maybe I'm weird. If you want the Supreme Court to be a more moderate institution, then you should want as many justices on the Supreme Court as possible.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode