(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney Dave Yost is calling on Congress not to consider any legislation that would expand and politicize the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Judiciary Act of 2021 introduced today by Congress is a court-packing bill introduced by Democrats. And last week President Biden announced a commission to study a possible expansion of the court. The commission will consider expanding the court from its existing nine justices which are appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress.
“The Court’s orders are followed because the Court is seen as legitimate — even when we don’t like a particular decision. Tampering with the Court to drive political outcomes will dismantle that legitimacy,” Yost said. “I support the Keep Nine amendment because it will forever take the threat of Court packing off the politicians’ table—Republicans or Democrats—and protect the Court from politics.”
Yost has also signaled his support of the “Keep Nine” amendment, a bipartisan proposal that has been introduced by the U.S. House of Representatives. The proposed amendment would add 13 words to the U.S. Constitution: “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine Justices.”
The number of justices is set by federal statute. Congress set the present nine-member court in 1869. Twice in history have their been court-packing proposals, but were defeated.
“We are very proud to have Attorney General Yost's support for the Keep Nine Amendment to ban Court packing and we welcome his leadership in the critical fight to preserve an independent U.S. Supreme Court.” said Roman Buhler, director of the Keep Nine Coalition.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Luke Sullivan: 614-270-2662
-30-