Supreme Court Expansion Proposal Starts With Solid Base of Support
By: Rep. Mondaire Jones and Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon
Last week, Rep. Jones introduced The Judiciary Act of 2021 to add four seats to the Supreme Court. Sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, House Judiciary Courts Subcommittee Chair Hank Johnson, and Senator Ed Markey, this bill represents the best path forward to restoring balance to a Supreme Court dominated by a 6-3, far-right supermajority that consistently rules against voting rights and our democracy.
While some in the political press corps dismissed the bill because it does not have an immediate path to passage, we have always known that building support for Court expansion will take time and further investment in organizing. Just as filibuster reform was a few years ago, Court reform is an idea that is new to many people, but it’s one that has growing support — and whose support is likely to grow as Democrats confront the danger of doing nothing.
New polling from Data for Progress shows that Court expansion starts with a solid base of grassroots support and that it has more supporters than opponents. When asked about expanding the number of justices from 9 to 13 justices, likely voters were more likely to support (47%) than to oppose it (41%). And notably, the vast majority of Democrats — 75% — already support the proposal.
That means that our task now is to organize Americans in support of this bill to put pressure on Democrats in Congress to embrace it. We see plenty of opportunity to continue growing support for Court reform by educating Americans about the issue and dispelling common myths.
Many Americans assume the Court has always had nine justices, and support tends to increase when people learn the Constitution makes it so easy to change the number of justices that lawmakers have done so seven different times throughout American history. As Americans learn more about the basic facts of the situation, support will continue to grow.
The news cycle will present plenty of opportunities to continue educating people about the urgency of the need for reform. Every bad ruling by the far-right majority will help strengthen the case that the Court is too biased in favor of corporations and politicians trying to rig our democracy. And while the inclusion of right-wing members and instructions not to offer formal recommendations will limit the usefulness of President Biden’s Court reform commission, the existence of the commission itself will keep the need for reform in the news in coming months.
Support should also grow as more Democratic leaders come out in support of expanding the Court. We are excited that more than a dozen members have already announced their support, and we expect that number to grow over time.
Of course, we should expect an onslaught of messaging from conservative forces desperate to maintain their chokehold on the Court. But this poll shows Democrats should not be afraid to tackle the issue of a captured Supreme Court head-on. The anti-democracy, anti-worker stances of the Roberts Court are not popular, and we should not hesitate to make the case that reform, including expansion, is needed.
With so much at stake for our democracy, there is no other viable option. The only way to protect our right to vote is to pass H.R. 1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and to expand the Court to ensure those measures are not immediately struck down. This poll shows a clear path to doing just that.
Congressman Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) represents New York’s 17th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, where he serves on the Judiciary, Ethics, and Education & Labor Committees.
Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) is the executive director and co-founder of Demand Justice.