Should the US 'pack' the Supreme Court?

Luke (No)

Padding the Supreme Court defies what the American founders wanted when crafting our constitutional republic. Changing the Court's composition to match the majority party's interests would only create further political polarization, resulting in a perpetual battle every election cycle whenever one party has the votes to carry this out. A heavily one-sided court, accomplished through court-packing by the majority party, could result in more judicial activism, where justices '[bend] the text of the Constitution' to prioritize partisan policy preferences at the expense of the Court's 'proper constitutional role of policing the structural limits on government and neutrally interpreting the laws and the Constitution.'

Democrat calls to 'expand the court' in the wake of Roe being overturned shows the partisan nature of desiring the Court to be packed. SCOTUS is a separate government branch that checks and balances the legislative and executive powers. No reason beyond party politics exists for desiring such a drastic move. Blatant rejiggering of the Court composition to merely serve the partisan interests of the day further decreases faith in America's court system. 

Likewise, the President does not get to place judges on the Court unilaterally; instead, Congress bipartisanly evaluates judges on their professional history, experience, and judicial vision. Instead of padding the Court whenever it does not rule in one party's favor, both parties should seek to select these judges wisely, as quality is undoubtedly superior to quantity in this case. And while precedence does not always equal written law, SCOTUS has had the same number of justices since the 19th century. Changing the number of seats on the Court must be backed with sound logical reasoning and enacted through an act of Congress, not as a method of manipulating the republic. 

Martin (Yes)

By the Founders' Constitutional design, the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to support and strike down various laws that come before it, which is great power in and of itself. But given that fact, there is room for improving this governing body. Congress should consider packing the Supreme Court to make it the best it can be.

The US Supreme Court currently has a politically and ideologically imbalanced conservative majority. Its decisions have meddled with gun laws, election laws, climate change, and even repealed federal abortion rights by overturning Roe and Casey. Appointing liberal justices, as Democrats claim, will even the playing field and curtail the GOP's 'anti-democratic' system that gives the conservative side of the Court the majority rule.

Likewise, the US Constitution does not delimit the number of justices that can sit in the Supreme Court. It leaves Congress with the mandate to 'ordain and establish' the Supreme Court. Congress can increase or reduce the number of sitting justices in the Court. Historically, the US Supreme Court has had more than nine sitting justices. Initially, the 1789 Judiciary Act set the number of judges at six. However, over the years, Congress altered this number to a majority of ten. While the Judicial Act of 1869 restricted the number of justices to nine, Congress still has the power to increase this number.

Lastly, court packing is a democratic stride that elevates justice and fairness in the land's highest Court—the US Supreme Court's GOP majority hands down conservative decrees that undermine democracy. Packing with the other side of the divide would dilute these powers. Court-packing waters down bias in a politically elected bench. Every faction of the divide must have a voice in a functional democratic setting!