Making the Supreme Court Safe for Democracy: Samuel Moyn on Reforming an Undemocratic Institution

Such an important interview.  — Molly

As Republicans race to confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett prior to Election Day and cement a conservative majority on the top court for a generation or more, calls are growing for Joe Biden to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court if elected president. But Yale legal scholar Samuel Moyn argues that beyond “packing the court” and other measures commonly proposed to rebalance the Supreme Court’s ideological makeup, the institution as a whole must be weakened in order to safeguard democracy. “This country was founded on minority rule and the rejection of democracy, and the Supreme Court has long been a part of that picture,” says Moyn. “Now that the right is on the brink of establishing control, it’s a dangerous institution.”

Still, he argues that progressives have "a menu of options" available to them to ensure that the Supreme Court does not dismantle laws that have immense popular support. "If we dream big, we can do things like insist that judges can only invalidate federal legislation by supermajority so that it is not up to five conservatives — now six — to invalidate laws that millions support." 

Please go here for the original: https://www.democracynow.org/2020/10/14/samuel_moyn_supreme_court_history