- Adam White was part of Biden’s commission to look at Supreme Court reforms
- The scholar set out his views in a statement posted to the White House website after the commission’s report was published last week
- ‘To pack the court would impair the court, not improve it,’ he writes
- The commission steered clear of offering a recommendation on increasing the number of justices from nine
- Progressives want Biden to have the power to appoint more justices to address a 6-3 conservative majority on the court
A member of President Biden’s Supreme Court commission broke ranks on Thursday to warn that increasing the number of justices would have a dangerous impact on justice and risked destabilizing that nation’s highest court.
The 34-member commission delivered its report last week without offering an opinion on the merits of ‘court packing.’
In a new statement published by the White House website, constitutional scholar Adam White warned that any attempt to change the court other than to help it decide cases ‘under the rule of law’ would be ‘recklessly shortsighted.’
‘To pack the court would impair the court, not improve it: destabilizing it, further politicizing it, and complicating its basic work of hearing and deciding cases under the rule of law,’ he wrote.
‘And one needs a willing suspension of disbelief not to see that court-packing would inaugurate an era of re-packing, destroying the court’s function and character as a court of law.’
Liberals have stepped up calls to increase the number of justices ever since former President Donald Trump was able to install a 6-3 conservative majority.