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Dan Sally

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Judicial

Trust in the Supreme Court is waning. Reducing polarization can save it.

Dan Sally
December 22, 2021
Supreme Court building
commons.wikimedia.org

Sally, host of the podcast “You Don't Have to Yell,” is director of digital strategy at Rank the Vote , an organization dedicated to promoting ranked-choice voting nationwide.

Americans expect the Supreme Court to rule objectively on the law, free of any partisan baggage. And Americans’ preferred strategy to make this happen is to pack the body with as many justices who think like them as possible.

We saw this dynamic in action during the final months of the Trump administration, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rushed to confirm Amy Coney Barrett. This led to cries of partisanship from the left and the creation of a commission on Supreme Court reform by President Biden in April 2021.

The commission released its findings earlier this month, covering the logistics around term limits for justices and expanding the court beyond its current nine members, but did not take a position on those options. While these reforms may have merit, all would be interpreted as further attempts to make the court more partisan and further reduce its credibility.

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