On May 18, 2022

Supreme Court balance requires additional justices

Dear Editor,

When Donald Trump was in office, he and Mitch McConnell made three lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. McConnell went so far as to defy Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish — that the next president appoint her replacement — by packing the Court with Amy Coney Barrett just eight days before the 2020 election.

The result? Today’s Supreme Court has been taken over by a hyper-partisan supermajority that is on the verge of dismantling abortion care in America.

But there’s something we can do. The Judiciary Act of 2021 would add four seats to the Supreme Court bench — restoring balance to the court. It’s the solution we need to move away from the extremely partisan rulings that now threaten our fundamental freedoms. Recent polling showed that the majority of voters support expanding the court.

Congress has changed the size of the Supreme Court seven times already in our nation’s history.

It’s time to do it again. I’m urging our representatives to back this important bill now so we know they want to protect the rights of the American people.

The stakes are too high to stay quiet on this important issue.

Elissa Cobb, Bristol

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