Legal Definitions - court-packing plan

A court-packing plan refers to a proposal, typically put forth by a political leader or party, to increase the number of judges on a specific court. While such proposals are often presented with a neutral or administrative justification, the underlying and usually unstated objective is to allow the proposer to appoint new judges who align with their political or legal philosophy. This strategic move aims to shift the court's ideological balance, making it more likely to rule favorably on the proposer's policies or agenda.

Here are some examples illustrating this concept:

• Imagine a scenario where a newly elected U.S. President, whose legislative agenda has been repeatedly challenged and overturned by a Supreme Court with a majority of ideologically opposing justices, proposes expanding the Court from nine to eleven members. The President's administration publicly states that the expansion is necessary to manage the Court's growing caseload and ensure timely justice. However, political commentators and opposition parties immediately accuse the President of a court-packing plan, arguing that the true intent is to appoint two new justices who will support the President's policies, thereby altering the Court's balance in their favor.

• Consider a state where the governor and the dominant party in the legislature are frustrated by the state's highest appellate court, which has consistently struck down their proposed environmental regulations. The governor then champions a bill to add three new seats to this state court, citing the need for greater "judicial diversity" and "broader representation" of the state's population. Critics, however, quickly label this as a court-packing plan, asserting that the real goal is to appoint judges who will be more sympathetic to the governor's environmental policies, rather than to genuinely enhance diversity.

• In a hypothetical country, the ruling party, after several of its key economic reforms are deemed unconstitutional by the nation's independent constitutional court, introduces legislation to significantly increase the number of judges on that court. The party's official statement emphasizes the need for "judicial modernization" and "efficiency" in handling complex constitutional matters. Nevertheless, human rights organizations and opposition leaders denounce the move as a blatant court-packing plan, designed to dilute the influence of the existing judges and install new ones who will rubber-stamp the government's agenda, thereby undermining judicial independence.