WASHINGTON, DC, Apr 9 — While President Biden and progressive Democrats in Congress press for expanding the number of Supreme Court Justices — what is known as ‘court-packing” — a notably liberal Justice, Stephen Breyer, warns against it. He says it would minimize respect for the high court and respect for the rule of law.
The White House says that Biden’s commission to study reforms to the United States Supreme Court, which he announced today, would focus, not just on the expansion of the number of Justices on the Court, but would also analyze how the Court chooses what cases to deliberate.
In a lecture at Harvard Law School earlier this week, Justice Breyer said that he wanted to “make those whose initial instincts may favor important structural (or other similar institutional) changes, such as forms of ‘court-packing,’ think long and hard before embodying those changes in law.” He went on to say, “Our power, the court’s power, has to depend on the public’s willingness to respect its decision. Respect even those decisions they disagree with… even when they think the decision is seriously mistaken.”
Meanwhile, progressives have started calling for Breyer to retire so that Biden can appoint a Democrat to replace him and start packing the Court. But Breyer appears to be standing pat. He says that, first of all, it is the wrong thing to do, explaining that such a move would define the Court as “another political institution.”
Harvard University law professor Noah Feldman, in an Opinion Article published by Bloomberg, concurred: “The more the timing of [his] retirement is depicted as a partisan objective, the less he will want to do it. To be seen to retire ‘in order’ to let Biden pick his successor would betray Breyer’s own career-long objective of making decisions based on what is right for the country, not for one party.”
Just how desperate are progressives to start packing SCOTUS is demonstrated by the actions of Demand Justice, a group of progressives intent on packing the Court, is reported to have hired a billboard truck to drive around the Supreme Court with the message: Breyer, retire. It’s time for a Black woman Supreme Court justice. There’s no time to waste. And, they’re asking visitors to its Website to sign a petition to; Tell Justice Breyer: Put the country first. Don’t risk your legacy to an uncertain political future. Retire now.
Breyer seems determined to ignore these calls, convinced that, as he put it, “If the public sees judges as politicians in robes, its confidence in the courts and in the rule of law can only diminish, diminishing the court’s power, including its power to act as a check on other branches.”
Stephen Breyer seems to be a Justice I can truly respect.
Hmm, I didn’t even know I think so highly of Justice Breyer; now I do.
I wish you would have added a link so that we could encourage Justice Breyer for his honest opinion and his ability to think independently and do the right thing
Lady Justice would no longer hold balanced scales if the Court is packed with Liberal Justices!!!!
Keep the court system at their current numbers and implement 8 year TERM LIMITS for ALL members.
Same thing should be mandated for the professional liars, whores, and thieves that call themselves
a US Congress !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When are citizens going to realize that our country is hijacked, we no longer live in a constitutional republic. We are destined to a USSR type communist police state. There are no more free elections as in Russia and China you may vote for whom ever you desire but the Communist selected candidate will win every time. Watch out for Biden’s secret police they watching everything you write on the internet.
I am very impressed with Justice Breyer for his courage to stand up to the socialists. I respect Justice Breyer even of he is a democrat.
That check is exactly what Biden wants. He is a tyrrant who will stop at nothing to get more power and will never be satisfied. Harris is as bad if not worse. She will sleep her way anywhere she wants to go and has already. She won’t do her job tho. (Border) God have mercy on all us sinners!!
Biden goes along with the Commicrats because he desperately wanted to be president (even if a FAKE one) and he KNOWS they have the dirt on him if he sways. Ego & POWER is all that matters!
The court is already corrupted, starting with Roberts (association with Epstein for children’s adoption) and evidenced by its refusal to even HEAR the evidence of MASSIVE voter fraud that allowed the Commicrats to STEAL the 2020 election!
Breyer talks as if there is some respect for the rule of law under Demorats in power. That’s all they do to get what they want is, by riot, selective prosecution or perversion of existing law, or just plain flipping the finger at those opposed to their half-assed agenda. Who is going to sustain even a “successful” prosecution of guilt in a government that is 85% Demorat ?
The Deep State and it tentacles just reach out for every Marxist Democrat cause that will disrupt the stability of this country. Court packing gets traction only from the progressives that want to control the political makeup of the highest court in the land. It is certainly not what the country needs, but you can bet it is on the agenda of the socialist left in the country.
So lets see what we have so far since the inauguration: Court packing the Supreme Court, open boarders, higher tax proposals that will increase the price of goods and services for every American, elimination the the Keystone Pipeline that destroyed eleven thousand jobs, green new deal proposals that will add trillions of dollars in new taxes for everyone, proposals to eliminate student loan debt, a wall constructed around the peoples’ Capitol, abusing illegal immigrant children without any plans to properly vet and / or house anyone coming across the southern boarder, and on-and-on.
There is no stopping this lying O’Biden administration from trampling the citizens and voters in the United States. Too bad that the lame stream media cannot and will not do their jobs to call out the administration on the falsehoods they have thrust upon America.
Just like the Socialist countries around the world. These actions are definite proof the liberal democrats want a Socialist America and Total Control of Every thing and Every body.
Packing the Supreme Court would render it to becoming little more than a “Rubber Stamp” to endorse all the unconstitutional efforts the Demsheviks are now perpetrating and will continue to perpetrate against the American people and our nation. It would no longer be the Supreme Court, but become the Subservient Court. The template for what is happening in America today under the Demsheviks is very similar to how things unfolded in Nazi Germany under Hitler, and we all know how that turned out.
Tyranny is one thing, but driving our nation toward becoming a full-blown dystopia as outlined in George Orwell’s 1984 is altogether different. Unfortunately, it appears we are being driven pell-mell toward the 1984 model. In fact, if you read the book, you will find that there are some elements of that dystopia that are already in place in our nation, and which will only be getting worse over time. For example, just consider the Lamestream Media with its lies, Fake News, and distorted and filtered coverage of real news. This is just the introduction to mind and thought control.
Another example already exists here in the Peoples Republic of ☭alifornia. The Demsheviks changed election rules several years ago, with the direct effect of effectively disenfranchising many voters. Their new “rules” dictated that only the top two candidates for an office who receive the most votes in the primary will advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. The effective result is that the primary becomes a sham because for most offices, we end up with ONLY two Demshevik candidates to choose from. While the Demsheviks may be happy with this, those of us who are not Demsheviks are disgusted that we have to vote for candidates that we abhor, or not vote for either based on our principles. Either way, we are effectively being disenfranchised.
Packing the Supreme Court will only splinter our country more. This is what the democrats and the progressives are looking to do. One can only wonder how much more the center and the right of center will take from the left before something bad will take place.
Judicial is the third branch of government. Decisions should be made by judgments that follow our constitution & not what POTUS or reigning party want. Nine is appropriate for SCOTUS & write to your Congressmen & urge them to keep it that way. I believe it would take amendment to our constitution make this number permanent. That way, neither party could play games with the highest court in our land.
Trump was proud to put a couple on SCOTUS, but even then he criticized them a couple of times for decision he did like. Take the outcome of 2020 election for example, which they did not have findings to go further.
It’s a foregone conclusion that Breyer’s opinion will go unheeded. This current administration has made it “abundantly & redundantly” CLEAR…. they will be doing anything & everything they want to do now that they have STOLEN the highest office in the world. If they can’t do it in Congress, they’ll just have that Alzheimer’s patient who sits in the Oval Office (when he’s not being hidden away in a basement) sign a “prepared” EO. And just like that, it’s law!
My Dad taught me early on, that if someone would lie to you, they would also steal from you! (… and you can take that to the bank!). After all, Bidens been telling lies to the voters for HALF A CENTURY!
I hope and pray that Justice Breyer sticks to his values. If the DemoRats are able to pack the S.C.O.U.S. the rule of law in the our country will be no longer exist, unless you sing to the tune of Socialism. The Biden administration is pushing us closer to an upheaval by conservative citizens and possibly civil dis-obedience or worse civil war.
While I might applaud Justice Breyer on the SOLE point of packing the court being harmful, I can’t forget that he is a proponent of “A Living Constitution that is Subject to Whims and Fashions of Current Beliefs.” More of a Political statement than a reasoned analysis of the brilliance of our Founding Documents, therefore he is NOT MY idea of a good Justice for our Supreme Court. His popularity for one brief statement, with which I agree, isn’t sufficient to rewrite 230 years of our Constitution.
Does a socialist form of government even have a Supreme Court? We ,simply cannot allow the Communist Biden regime to stack the court. If they get their way on all their proposals, there will be no Republican Party ever again. God help us!
Mr. Biden’s regime is scary; their power grab is to keep everybody in fear and dependent.
Pelosi is a marxist. She is always saying, she knows what the American people want. Give me a break. Hope they don’t scare Justice Breyer. They sure did scare CEO’s and president’s of major companies.
“WE THE PEOPLE” HAVE ALREADY LOST ALL RESPECT AND TRUST IN NOT JUST SCOTUS BUT EVERY COURT AT EVERY LEVEL, THERE IS NO “JUSTICE” FOR AMERICANS THAT OBEY THE LAWS, THE COURTS WORK FOR THE CRIMINALS, THERE is no such thing as an honest lawyer anymore, if there were there would be some fighting against all this corruption, all they do is constantly plead for money, SPEND YEARS, EVEN DECADES “INVESTIGATING” AND THEN NOT ONE CORRUPT POLITICIAN OR LAWYER OR JUDGE EVER GETS PUNISHED, HOW LONG HAS JUDICIAL WATCH BEEN “INVESTIGATING” ALL THE CLINTON CRIMES? HOW ABOUT CHINAJOE AND HIS BAGMAN( hunter)? All the evidence that has been shown, EVEN BEFORE HE WAS ILLEGALLY MOVED INTO “OUR HOUSE”!! ALL OF IT IGNORED AND HIDDEN BY THE CORRUPT MSM, “WE THE PEOPLE” ARE TO BLAME, BECAUSE WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.
SINCE WHEN IS THE UN-SUPREME COURT NOT POLITICAL, ITS BEEN POLITICAL SINCE I WAS BORN AND I’M 75. THE NEW COMMUNIST HAS JUST GOTTEN WORSE THAN IT EVER HAS BEEN IN THE PAST AND IS NOW TOTALITARIAN AND HATES THE CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS !! THEY NEED TO GO, ALL OF THEM TRAITORS ALL !!! VIETNAM VET 67-68
Not surprising (puppet) China Joe and the communist left would try such an act and are licking their chops in anticipation of a one party rule!
Just watch, they will pack the court, China the puppet masters will force them. The take over of America by the Communist Democrats is near. The only thing that will save you are God and you Guns, pray hard that God gets it done.
God and the Lord are your only real hope !!!!!
Totally agree with Justice Breyer!
Stand firm.
BIDEN IS A NUTCASE AND OBAMA IS THE LOWLIFE TELLING BIDEN TO DESTROY AMERICA..REMEMBER OBAMA HATES AMERICANS..HE SEEMS TO FORGET HIS MOTHER WAS AN AMERICAN TOO..SHE WOULD BE DISGUSTED TO SEE THE DAMAGE THAT OBAMA IS TRYING TO DO TO THE HARD WORK PRESIDENT TRUMP DID FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND AMERICA..BIDEN IS A DISGRACE AND HAS NO BUSINESS EVEN PRETENDING TO BE PRESIDENT..THE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW THIS ELECTION WAS STOLEN NOT JUST FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP BUT ALSO FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE..WHAT A DISGRACE…THESE DEMOCROOKS ALL BELONG IN JAIL..STARTING WITH CROOKED HILARY AND OBAMA..
“but would also analyze how the Court choses what cases to deliberate”. What happened to the separation of Powers?
hat happened to Separation of Powers? Does Biden really think he can dictate not only how many are Justices there are on the Court, but what cases they must consider?
Because I used a quote from this article in my original comment it won’t be printed. it is censored the same way AMAC sensors any comment that contains a link. So I reworded it without the quote and it printed. I strongly object to this form of censorship by AMAC, because they don’t actually vet the comments they place on hold “for approval”, they just don’t print your comment at all. If any members of AMAC agree with me, and object to this censorship of Free Speech, I would encourage you to call AMAC and express your feelings, as I have.
If Biden wants to destroy the Supreme Court then why don’t we have two 2 president. We can have a president for the states that want republicans and states that want democrats.That way the republicans could use there money and democrats can use there money.
a wise president in 1960 stated ” those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable.” nuff said
Much, much too late. John Roberts killed the no-longer-supreme court years ago.
Then, the useless court refused to address the blatant fraud of the stolen election.
America has no legal system left.
It’s great to hear a SCOTUS Justice publicly state that the court is not a political institution and that people would lose their respect for its decisions if it were to be viewed as a political institution. The fact that Biden is even considering tinkering with the Supreme Court is a warning to Americans. It shows that he, along with the modern democratic party have no real respect for America or its institutions, they only care about obtaining as much power as possible. Biden has recently said that he doesn’t see anything wrong with “one party”. That is extremely scary and shows just how out of touch he and his party leaders really are. That is a stones throw away from socialism/communism and we have seen repeatedly how badly that works out for the average person.
Oh my gosh! This Democratic ‘Show’ just gets more and more ridiculous. This nonsense has got to stop –> ASAP!
Hey Repubs……..how about fighting a little harder to stop the evil Dems. I don’t hear you!!!!!
Funny how the demon-communist-cRATS howled when there were calls for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire. Now these same communists expect Breyer to retire? Yeah, right. Hang on to that dream you commies.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer might want to stay away from Texas ranches now though. Funny how a “political party” that doesn’t believe in gender wants a “Black woman Supreme Court Justice”.
I’m so sick of this racial stuff! Retire so a black woman can be appointed? Everything seems to be
based on race today and is allegedly to make this fair. It’s not fair when those who aren’t qualified get a position. It’s not fair when someone is chosen simply because of race either.
Instead of arresting the rioters, government is trying to placate them. This never works. enforce the laws or ask your congress person to change them.The conservatives are on the brink and if they finally have enough,all hell will break loose. follow the constitution or get out of town.
Supreme Court has functioned with NINE members for years, so why change it now? Think that President FDR considered this in late Forties & it did not go very far with either party. Packing the court is a bad idea then & now.
Pres Trump really picked some bad people for his team and they stabbed him in the back. The rinos must go.
The representatives have loss my respect & I think for a large number of the American people. Most of them are self serving.
The Supreme Court should not be subjected to the same fate nor should it be politicitized.
Ask President Biden one question: Give me one good reason for expanding Supreme Court besides that it will end up in favor of whatever party is in the White House that term? And question two, how much is annual salary of each justice ?
Dan
Justice Breyer stand your ground
Thank you Judge Breyer for the principles that you have lived by and continue to this day under trying circumstances. We have been often disappointed by our “POLITICIANS”, never more so than now. I hope there are more people with backbone to hold onto what is great for our country. The hell with those have let their self interests overrule the country interests.
Please, Justice Stephen Breyer, hold your line on staying on The Court. Your sane voice and presence is very needed. Our Court is too important to change. Thank you for your service to our country.