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Tell us: Should Democrats pack the Supreme Court?

Sen. Ed Markey is calling on Congress to add four seats to the judicial branch.

May 16, 2023

2 minutes to read

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey is renewing a push to expand the Supreme Court, announcing on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday that he will reintroduce the Judiciary Act, which would add four seats to the highest court in the country.

“Our message is simple, but its consequences are woven into the fabric of every right of every person in every community across this nation,” he said, calling the Supreme Court “illegitimate and far-right.”

After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in 2021 left an open Supreme Court seat for Republicans to fill, we asked Boston.com readers if they would support court-packing by the Democrats. At the time, Biden hadn’t yet won the presidency and the Senate was still in Republican control, and 57% of the more than 500 readers polled, said even if Democrats won back the Senate, court packing was too extreme a step.

Since then, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court has made a number of landmark decisions, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, that has lawmakers like Markey ready to restart the conversation about expanding the court.

In an MSNBC appearance on Monday, Markey accused the GOP of stealing two Supreme Court seats. First, when they blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination by former President Barack Obama and again with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the court days before the 2020 election.

“The only question is, are we going to stand up to the bullies? Are we going to try to restore the balance that did exist before they engaged in this ahistorical thievery of two Supreme Court seats? I don’t think we have a choice,” Markey said.

Markey also raised concerns about alleged ethical violations by Justice Clarence Thomas, who has reportedly received luxury gifts and money from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow and called for his resignation.

While the expansion of the Supreme Court isn’t a new idea — in 1937, FDR floated an idea to expand the court to 15 justices — it hasn’t proven to be a popular one. Polls show that a large portion of the American public has lost confidence in the impartiality of the Supreme Court, but are still largely against court packing.

We want to know: Do you support Markey’s plan to expand the Supreme Court by four seats?

Tell us what you think about court packing and if your opinion has changed in the last year by filling out the survey below or emailing us at [email protected] and we may feature your response in a future article or on Boston.com social media channels.

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