Most amendments that aim to restructure our government are going to be a bit more ‘radical’ than your average, run-of-the-mill amendment. Today, we tackle the Supreme Court:

The Renewing the Supreme Court Amendment

The number of Supreme Court Justices shall be one for every twenty million residents of the States, Districts, and Territories, rounded to the nearest twenty million, that number being calculated after each decennial census. If the number grows, additional Justice(s) shall be appointed for the next annual term of the Court. If the number shrinks, the longest serving Justice(s) must retire at the end of the current annual term of the Court.

The Supreme Court Justices shall be chosen from the ranks of active and Senior Federal Appellate Judges who have served at least eight years as a Federal Appellate Judge and have not already held a position as a Supreme Court Justice, and shall be selected by a series of votes by the active and Senior Appellate Judges until a nominee emerges. The President shall be able to veto the selection of a nominee if said nominee receives less than 2/3 of the votes of the Appellate judges.

The Supreme Court Justices shall be ruled by and abide by the same Code of Ethics, established by the Judicial Conference and/or legislative Acts, as all other Federal judges. Reported violations of the Code of Ethics by any Supreme Court Justice shall be handled by the Judicial Conference. If the reported Justice is part of the Judicial Conference, they shall be excluded from any and all investigations, hearings, deliberations, and findings on the matter. Congress retains the ability to impeach and remove Judges and Justices.

The Chief Supreme Court Justice, from the beginning of each session until the beginning of the next session, shall be the longest serving Supreme Court Justice at the beginning of the session.

Originally, there were 6 Supreme Court Justices (in 1790), and has been as high as 10 (during the Civil War), then settled at 9 (in 1869). Meanwhile, the population of the United States has gone from 3.9 million people in 1790, to 38.5 million in 1870, to 331 million in 2020. The Federal District courts and the Appellate Courts have grown in number and size, and the Supreme Court should be adjusted reasonably to handle the much heavier case load. At one Justice per 20 million residents (rounded up, in this case), that would equate to 17 Justices as of 2020.

More Justices would support better handling of the heavier case load, and would “average out” the “philosophical differences” between the Justices, avoiding wild swings to the Left or the Right. Drawing the Justices solely from the Appellate ranks with at least 8 years experience in Appellate work would guarantee that the the Supreme Court would be ‘stocked’ with mostly very well-qualified people. Further, having them selected by the “Appellate Court” (currently 179 judges, plus some number of Senior judges), would tend to remove the politicization of the Supreme Court that happens with Presidential nominations. Allowing the President some veto power acts as a counter-balance to a runaway Appellate.

As history has shown us, being a Supreme Court Justice does not inherently mean that it guarantees moral and ethical behavior. The unenforced ‘suggestion’ of a code of ethics that was adopted in 2023 is a sham, a toothless mouse trying to gum lions into submission. Just because they’re called ‘Supreme’ does not make them “supreme beings.” They are people. They may be well educated, they may be experienced (or not…), but that doesn’t make them infallible. They often hold the future (or, at least, the near future) of our country in their hands, and those hands should certainly be slapped when they fail our country.

The Chief Supreme Court Justice has a stronger role (somewhat) than the other Justices, yet is chosen and appointed (for life) exactly the same as all the other Justices, by whatever President that happens to be in office when the current Chief dies or retires. That seems, somehow, less than appropriate. By choosing the Justice who has been on the Supreme Court bench the longest, at least the period of “greater sway” is reduced for any given Chief Justice, and greater experience is ensured. How long a Justice should serve, is the subject for a later discussion…

-Everett