The Law and Lore Behind ‘Packing’ the U.S. Supreme Court

The likelihood of a solid conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court for years to come has some Democrats contemplating a legislative moonshot. They’re pressuring their candidate in the Nov. 3 presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden, to endorse the idea of expanding, or “packing,” the court beyond its current nine seats. Others in this so-called progressive wing of the Democratic Party would replace the life tenure of Supreme Court justices with fixed terms. In the words of C