The History of Expanding the Supreme Court
University of Michigan Law School professor and Supreme Court historian Richard Friedman discussed how the Constitution addresses the size of the Supreme Court and explained the history attempts to expand the number of sitting justices.
Description
University of Michigan Law School professor and Supreme Court historian Richard Friedman discussed how the Constitution addresses the size of the Supreme Court and explained the history attempts to expand the number of sitting justices.
Bell Ringer Assignment
- Who has the power to change the size of the court?
- What was the original size of the Supreme Court?
- How has the size of the Supreme Court fluctuated?
- What are the advantages of having nine Supreme Court justices?
- Why did President Roosevelt try to expand the size of the court?
- What was the result of Roosevelt’s court packing proposal?
Additional Resource
Participants
Vocabulary
- Chief Justice
- Court Packing
- Diversity
- Federalists
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Judiciary
- Judiciary Committee
- Landslide
- Norms