On Thursday, February 12, 2021, the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative and Department of Political Science at Davidson College hosted an online expert panel and deliberative forum on reforming the Supreme Court. Four Supreme Court experts weighed in on reform ideas ranging from expanding the number of justices to instituting term limits on their time in office to reducing the court’s power as an institution. Then, attendees listened to the perspectives of others and shared their own ideas about reforming the Supreme Court in breakout rooms facilitated by trained DCI Fellows.
Reforming-the-Supreme-Court_PosterJudith Resnik, the Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, introduced the broader context and dynamics of judicial reform by exploring the historical development of our modern day Supreme Court. Professor Resnik then moderated her fellow panelists’ comments about different reform ideas.
Ryan Doerfler, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, suggested that strategies to “disempower” the court, such as jurisdiction stripping and supermajority requirements, would not only be feasible but would also increase the perceived legitimacy of the court. Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School, responded with his proposal for a new Constitutional Court which would shift the most contentious constitutional legal questions, including such topics as abortion, travel bans, and immigration policies, away from the Supreme Court to a new court made up of judges from other federal courts. Finally, James Lindgren, Professor of Law at Northwestern School of Law, explored the parameters and benefits of his proposal to institute 18-year or 24-year terms limits for Supreme Court justices.
The event was moderated by the DCI’s Faculty Director, Professor Graham Bullock, and Professor Andrew O’Geen, Chair of Political Science at Davidson College. You can watch the panelists’ full remarks in the video below.