Changing the size of courts

The number of judges that sit on America's highest courts (federal and state supreme courts) is, for the most part, not set by the federal and state constitutions. Congress and state legislatures are free to change the number of Justices sitting on the highest courts as they see fit. For instance, the first U.S. Supreme Court had only six members. The number was gradually expanded to seven, then nine, then ten, then back to seven and finally left at nine. All via Acts of Congress. The same goes for the various state Supreme Court.

However, the magazine Governing recently reported on a disturbing trend:

When supreme courts were expanded in the past, it was typically the result of a larger revision of the state constitution, said Bill Raftery, an analyst with the National Center for State Courts. Over the past decade, however, legislators in several states have sought to expand or reduce the size of their supreme courts -- in some cases admitting their intent to sway the ideological balance. "In several of these instances, the legislators have been very clear that they want certain decisions by their state courts of last resorts to be changed, or they want future decisions decided a different way," said Raftery.

Today America's courts are as political as the other three branches, with control of the highest court being a major goal of both the established political parties.