Justice Breyer: Lawmakers Should ‘Think Long And Hard’ Before Expanding SCOTUS | Talking Points Memo

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Tuesday cautioned that broad reforms like court expansion risk politicizing the high court.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1368491

Maybe what he is trying to tell us is that he knows Brett Kavanaugh liked to go to Matt Gaetz parties.

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Funny he mentioned that. I feel exactly the same way when I’m choosing ice cream flavors!

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I’m not a lawmaker, but I do vote for people who are. I’ve thought about it long, and hard.

DO IT!!

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…broad reforms like court expansion risk politicizing the high court.

Heavens! Next thing you know, he’ll be concerned about whether COVID could spread.

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While “court packing” is something that needs cautious deliberation it can not be said that to increase the number of Justices would start a cycle of “court packing.” We are currently deep into a cycle of “court packing.” The Republicans started "packing the court when they refused to confirm a replacement for Scalia. That injustice needs to be corrected before there can be an end to this current cycle.

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I’m sorry, but these GD Justices live in ridiculous bubbles. Is he really that naive? Clarence Thomas knows what’s happening: he is upset that Trump can’t be on Twitter anymore. Just retire, Justice Breyer. Thank you for your service.

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risk politicizing the high court.

That ship you’re cautioning us about has sailed so far and for so long that the Voyager missions have yet to pass it, Justice Breyer.

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Breyer couldn’t and wouldn’t say that he favors SCOTUS expansion. It’s one of those types of questions that lead to other questions…

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As a general rule, I appreciate Breyer, but it seems to me that he is wrong to characterize these discussions as reacting to “initial instincts”. I think that’s why we are considering, rather than acting, on these ideas. This is the process of “think[ing] long and hard”. I’m not saying that he shouldn’t be part of the conversation, but it would be nice if he would acknowledge that this is a discussion aimed at solving a problem.

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How about Fuck off and "Think long and hard before blocking a legitimate SCOTUS nominee and rushing through another one in 2 weeks "

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To be fair, he had nothing to do with that. Being realistic, pack the damn thing.

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It’s ridiculous that the long-term politics of this country can hinge so dramatically on the health of any single octogenarian. Forget nine versus eleven–give me 101 justices and draw nine names out of a hat for any given case.

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Yes. At some point we’re going to have to talk about Justice Rapey McBeer Goggles, and Justice HandMaid’s Tale. At the very least, we need to talk about who paid all McBeer Goggles’s debts.

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Biden’s been in office now, what?, 18 months?, Why aren’t all these fsckers in chains yet? What is taking so damned long.

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…that broad reforms like court expansion risk politicizing the high court

Would he consider stealing a seat from President Obama to be “politicizing”? I’m guessing not.

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So, is Breyer going to resign and let Biden appoint someone, or not?

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TBF: Obama was 1) A Democrat, and 2) he was, (and still is, as far as I know), you know, ummmmm, ah, not, ummmm, caucasian , so I’m not sure that counts, right? I mean, is racism really “politics”?

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To solve a problem you first have to agree that one exists. The court does not see itself as political even though at least 1/3 of the court is openly partisan and has been seated via scandal and improper procedure.

The court has lost legitimacy and become part of the political clown show. Adjusting the number of justices is not enough. Complete reform (and ethics rules) are needed.

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One of the jobs of the justices on the Supreme Court are to oversee the federal district courts. Although the number of courts has increased as the US population has grown, the number of justices have not.

Expanding the SCOTUS to link justice positions one-to-one with each of the courts would be a reasonable action in response the actual duties and responsibilities of the court.

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It’s too late to be afraid that SCOTUS has been politicized.

McConnell took care of that over the last four years. And rather handily.

Breyer forgets FDR’s ‘Switch in time that saved nine’. It won’t be the first time SCOTUS has been politicized and, I daresay, it won’t be the last.

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