Expand SCOTUS & Save Democracy—While We Still have a Democracy to Save

The American people have repeatedly expanded the Supreme Court throughout our nation's history, and there's no valid reason today to delay further expansion for the same reasons

An unjust system is when four Supreme Court Justices nominated by Presidents who lost the popular vote, confirmed by a Senate who represent 40 million fewer Americans than the other party, strip rights the vast majority of Americans loudly support, while secretly (and openly) taking bribes from billionaires because they know they face zero accountability. Those same SCOTUS justices currently weigh whether a President of the United States has unlimited immunity—as if that should ever even have been a question to consider.

And yet, critics still claim it’s wrong to demand expansion of the Supreme Court. Beyond the obvious and systemic deterioration of our rights, there are at least three reasons to expand the Court. So, Let’s Address This.

Before diving into those three (excellent) reasons, please answer the below poll. I’ll ask you again at the end to see if you changed your mind.

Let’s quickly recap just some the rights lost under this right wing Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”). At a minimum, Americans have LOST protections to:

•clean water

•voting rights

•reproductive health

•wrongful incarceration

•religion/state separation

•safety from gun violence

•4th amendment protections

•5th amendment protections

•anti-discrimination for being Queer

•racial justice in education and the work place

•economic justice for students suffering under predatory loans

And that’s just a snapshot, but you get the idea on how dire the situation really is.

Elected Democrats who don't have the courage to demand we expand the court are severely underestimating the extremism of MAGA Republicans. Especially with Trump promising to establish a dictatorship, we do not have time to waste. Democrats must abolish the filibuster, expand the court, or we won’t have a democracy left to save. Here are the core reasons why we must expand the court.

First, expanding the Court aligns with historical precedent. As documented by the Supreme Court itself:

The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869.

As many changes as our nation went through from March 4, 1789 (the date SCOTUS was established) to 1869 (the year of the last SCOTUS change in number of justices), it surely has gone through as many or more significant changes since then—clearly justifying further expansion. Likewise, one reason we arrived at nine justices in 1869 is our nation then had nine federal districts. Now, the United States has 13 federal districts. Precedent mandates that we remain consistent and expand to at least 13 Supreme Court seats. In other words, not expanding SCOTUS to at least 13 is the actual contradiction to SCOTUS precedent.

Second, expanding the Court aligns with American population and demographic considerations. For example, in 1869 the U.S. population was approximately 38 million people, and we had nine SCOTUS seats, i.e. one for every 4.2 million people. In 2024 the U.S. population is approximately 335 million people, and we have nine SCOTUS seats, i.e. one for every 37.2 million people. Each SCOTUS justice today essentially accounts for the entire nation in 1869.

Expanding the Court will better ensure the will of the people is heard and represented. We are supposed to be a government by, of, and for the people. That cannot be lip service. It must be action. And in addition to better accounting for population differences, we must ensure SCOTUS accounts for demographic differences. Here’s what I mean. Of the 116 SCOTUS Justices to date, their demographics break down as follows:

•108 white men

•4 white women

•2 Black men

•1 Latina woman

•1 Black woman

So in other words, white men, while only ~30% of the US population, represent 94% of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the rest of America at ~70% of the US population, represents just 6% of the Supreme Court. SCOTUS is supposed to represent the American people. It is not meant to be a racially or gender exclusive club. The solution is clear. Congress should expand SCOTUS to begin to ensure more accurate representation of all Americans.

But, critics protest, “that’s packing the court, and that’s wrong!” I recall after the passing of Justice RBG, a MAGA voter objected exactly that point to me, complaining, “Democrats just want to pack the Court."

I responded (at the time in 2020), "Sure, let's talk about packing the court. Let's talk about how Republicans have won the popular vote only 1 of last 7 Presidential elections but have nominated 14 of last 19 SCOTUS picks. Let's talk about how Mitch McConnell denied President Obama's appointments of an unprecedented 110 Federal judges, and a SCOTUS appointment. Those 110 appointments were then appointed by President Trump with conservative judges, and the SCOTUS pick denied to Obama was given to Trump. And now, going back on their own rule to not appoint SCOTUS justices in an election year, the GOP wants to appoint a justice in an election year (which they successfully did with Justice Barrett). You cannot accuse Democrats of a hypothetical event that never happened while ignoring the actual court packing done by Republicans."

Which brings me back to my earlier point, that Republicans will absolutely break any rule, violate any ethical standard, and avoid any accountability to the law, if it means it gets them more power. And we know this because this is what they’ve done to pack the courts and secure a supermajority 6-3 conservative Court. And hence, my third point on why we need to expand SCOTUS.

Ethics.

Third, SCOTUS desperately needs meaningful ethics reform to regain its legitimacy, and that just won’t happen with the current SCOTUS. A recent Gallup poll shows that while the Supreme Court enjoyed a remarkable 80% trust rating in the late 90s, it is now at a historical low of just 49%.

And this is not by accident. Repeated reporting shows that numerous billionaires lavished millions in undisclosed gifts on Justice Thomas. He disclosed none of them. And it doesn’t by any stretch stop with Justice Thomas. Justice Alito has repeatedly ruled on cases in favor of corporations like Exxon, while he held stock in Exxon. Justices Kavanaugh, Barrett, Alito, and Thomas all committed to respecting Roe as settled law, and then lied and voted to repeal Roe. Americans are outraged, feel unheard, and lied to.

This corruption is the exact reason why Supreme Court justices are required to disclose gifts and financial benefits. And the fact that there’s no accountability for this overt corruption, is another reason why we need to expand the court to at least 13 and bring balance back to the Supreme Court.

In conclusion, while we are quickly running out of time, it is not too late—yet. Democrats can still stand united to abolish the filibuster, vote to expand the Court, and add at least four more seats to make it a 13 member Supreme Court. Doing so will restore alignment with historical precedent, restore alignment with America’s population and demographic realities, and restore alignment with ethics and integrity that our Court is supposed to uphold. And if nothing else, polling shows that an astounding 66% of Democrats wants to expand the court. Elected Democrats should finally listen.

Failure to act risks not just a continued degradation of our fundamental rights as Americans, but a dissolution of our democracy itself. Therefore, we must expand the Court to save our democracy—while we still have a democracy to save.