Thank you for observing that the "Powell Memo" is a point of origin for much of the trouble we are in today. I believe it is extremely important to understand how our present day problems with Scotus would not have been possible were it not for the Republican's Long Game of Court Packing, with the first of two seats staying in Republica…
Thank you for observing that the "Powell Memo" is a point of origin for much of the trouble we are in today. I believe it is extremely important to understand how our present day problems with Scotus would not have been possible were it not for the Republican's Long Game of Court Packing, with the first of two seats staying in Republican control since 1958!
Powell's memo served as the starting point for the Republicans Rigging of Scotus by Court Packing. The Court Packing technique is the "Strategic Retirement'' cited by many, though it really is outrageous cheating and hoarding. Powell set the stage for the Long Game. In his memo Powell wrote, "Under our constitutional system, especially with an activist-minded Supreme Court, the judiciary may be the most important instrument for social, economic and political change."
Soon after the memo Nixon appointed Powell to Scotus. ...And then the packing began, resulting in the hoarding of 2 seats by Republicans across over half a century.
Seat #1: Potter Stewart, the Republican colleague of Powell who was appointed by Eisenhower in 1958, and after having served under several Democratic and Republican presidents, chose to wait until after the exit of Carter and the inauguration of Reagan to retire in 1981. Reagan put Sandra Day O'Connor on the high court. Years later, she famously was very upset at the apparent victory of Al Gore. Not by coincidence, she chose to appoint Republican Bush, so she could do as she desired and retired under him.
Bush appointed Sam Alito as her replacement, who continues to rule today.
That seat has been in Republican control since 1958! That's 64 years and counting.
Seat #2: Powell was appointed in 1972, who also served until retiring under the Reagan administration. Reagan selected Kennedy as Powell's replacement in 1987. Kennedy served for about 30 years, retiring under Republican Trump, who appointed Brett Kavanaugh as his replacement, who continues to rule to this day.
That seat has been in Republican control since 1972! That's 50 years, and counting.
Had there been Term Limits over the years, as proposed by former AG Eric Holder, none of that would have happened. We might even not had to suffer under George W. Bush, or Trump. McConnell would not have been able to push Gorsuch and Barrett onto the bench. If Trump had still served a term, he'd appoint only 2, not 3 justices.
It's pretty obvious that the court is severely broken, and does not represent or even serve the American people. Repairing it requires Court Expansion, and I'd consider adding 4 seats to total 13, which for whatever it's worth matches the number of Federal district courts. And the appropriate Term Limit would thus be 26 years - a virtual "lifetime appointment", and henceforth in each 4 year presidential term, 2 justices retire, and 2 are hired - as AG Eric Holder discusses in his book.
To get there, Democrats desperately need a wider margin of seats in congress, to be followed immediately by making Washington DC a state, adding 2 more seats to the majority.
Then, the court can be repaired. We'd have a chance to reverse the partisan, ideological and idiotic rulings by the Roberts court. And also a chance to deal with all the other insanity forced upon America by the Republican party.
Somewhere recently I heard that the original count of the Supreme Court was keyed to how many Appellate Circuits, which number has increased. Encyclopedia Britannica counts 13 "intermediate appellate courts" including D.C. and something called "The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit" established 1982. So 13 "justices," (sorry, can't resist heavy so-called around that term now) would correlate to that standard. Hey, that's long-established, ain't it?
Thank you for observing that the "Powell Memo" is a point of origin for much of the trouble we are in today. I believe it is extremely important to understand how our present day problems with Scotus would not have been possible were it not for the Republican's Long Game of Court Packing, with the first of two seats staying in Republican control since 1958!
Powell's memo served as the starting point for the Republicans Rigging of Scotus by Court Packing. The Court Packing technique is the "Strategic Retirement'' cited by many, though it really is outrageous cheating and hoarding. Powell set the stage for the Long Game. In his memo Powell wrote, "Under our constitutional system, especially with an activist-minded Supreme Court, the judiciary may be the most important instrument for social, economic and political change."
Soon after the memo Nixon appointed Powell to Scotus. ...And then the packing began, resulting in the hoarding of 2 seats by Republicans across over half a century.
Seat #1: Potter Stewart, the Republican colleague of Powell who was appointed by Eisenhower in 1958, and after having served under several Democratic and Republican presidents, chose to wait until after the exit of Carter and the inauguration of Reagan to retire in 1981. Reagan put Sandra Day O'Connor on the high court. Years later, she famously was very upset at the apparent victory of Al Gore. Not by coincidence, she chose to appoint Republican Bush, so she could do as she desired and retired under him.
Bush appointed Sam Alito as her replacement, who continues to rule today.
That seat has been in Republican control since 1958! That's 64 years and counting.
Seat #2: Powell was appointed in 1972, who also served until retiring under the Reagan administration. Reagan selected Kennedy as Powell's replacement in 1987. Kennedy served for about 30 years, retiring under Republican Trump, who appointed Brett Kavanaugh as his replacement, who continues to rule to this day.
That seat has been in Republican control since 1972! That's 50 years, and counting.
Had there been Term Limits over the years, as proposed by former AG Eric Holder, none of that would have happened. We might even not had to suffer under George W. Bush, or Trump. McConnell would not have been able to push Gorsuch and Barrett onto the bench. If Trump had still served a term, he'd appoint only 2, not 3 justices.
It's pretty obvious that the court is severely broken, and does not represent or even serve the American people. Repairing it requires Court Expansion, and I'd consider adding 4 seats to total 13, which for whatever it's worth matches the number of Federal district courts. And the appropriate Term Limit would thus be 26 years - a virtual "lifetime appointment", and henceforth in each 4 year presidential term, 2 justices retire, and 2 are hired - as AG Eric Holder discusses in his book.
To get there, Democrats desperately need a wider margin of seats in congress, to be followed immediately by making Washington DC a state, adding 2 more seats to the majority.
Then, the court can be repaired. We'd have a chance to reverse the partisan, ideological and idiotic rulings by the Roberts court. And also a chance to deal with all the other insanity forced upon America by the Republican party.
Somewhere recently I heard that the original count of the Supreme Court was keyed to how many Appellate Circuits, which number has increased. Encyclopedia Britannica counts 13 "intermediate appellate courts" including D.C. and something called "The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit" established 1982. So 13 "justices," (sorry, can't resist heavy so-called around that term now) would correlate to that standard. Hey, that's long-established, ain't it?