The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States (PCSCOTUS), also known informally as the Supreme Court commission, was a
Presidential Commission established by
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Joe Biden to investigate the idea of reforming the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. It will provide a nonpartisan analysis of "the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
reform".
The commission was established through
Executive Order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...
14023, issued on April 9, 2021. According to the order, the commission must issue a report within 180 days of its first public meeting,
which took place May 19, 2021. The commission issued its final report on December 8, 2021.
The commission was established several months after
Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. This nomination was controversial, as it happened less than two months before the
2020 United States presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
, and Republicans in 2016 had invoked the seldom-used
Thurmond rule to block the
nomination of Merrick Garland.
Members
Two of the commission's members,
Caleb Nelson
Caleb E. Nelson (born September 15, 1966) is the Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Early life and education
Nelson is the son of David Aldrich Nelson, a former judge on the United Stat ...
and
Jack Goldsmith
Jack Landman Goldsmith III (born September 26, 1962) is an American legal scholar. He is a professor at Harvard Law School who has written extensively in the fields of international law, civil procedure, federal courts, conflict of laws, and na ...
, had resigned their positions by October 2021.
Report
Presidential Commission on SCOTUS: Final ReportStatement by Commissioners Griffith and LeviStatement by Commissioner White
See also
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List of executive actions by Joe Biden#2021
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January 6 commission
The National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex, known colloquially as the January 6 commission, was an unsuccessful proposal to create a commission that would have investigated the January 6 Uni ...
*
Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937
The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the "court-packing plan",Epstein, at 451. was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to ...
References
External links
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{{US-poli-stub
2021 establishments in the United States
United States Presidential Commissions
Presidency of Joe Biden
Supreme Court of the United States