Re: “Expand the Supreme Court. And weaken it” [July 14, Opinon]:
Like columnist Perry Bacon Jr., I am a liberal Democrat and I also cringe at the misguided decisions that the court has recently handed down. However, I disagree with his remedies for “fixing” the court.
In my opinion, the goal of any reform should be to boost the nation’s confidence in the court, not to worsen the partisanship that already erodes its credibility. Stacking the court with liberal judges would be a purely partisan maneuver that would only worsen the court’s legitimacy in the eyes of half the country. Reforms should be negotiated in bipartisan fashion and include topics such as ethics, term limits and other ideas for fairness that ensure the independence of the court, not its fracturing along political lines.
This will not be easy or quick, but we need one branch of government that’s not beholden to a political party.
Harry Stern, Seattle
