Free Republic

Since the Associated Press considers itself “an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting,” it would be problematic for an AP article to contain commentary packaged as news and facts.Real Clear Politics co-founder and president Tom Bevan captured the following excerpt from an AP story. “Bullock said that if Coney Barrett was confirmed, he would be open to measures to depoliticize the court, including adding judges to the bench, a practice critics have dubbed packing the courts.” The latest version of the article contains the following note: “This story has been edited to make clear that it is Bullock’s...

Republicans have been successfully leveraging the Supreme Court balance of power as a major campaign issue to ignite their base since the 1980s. For Democrats, the 2020 election may mark the first in modern times that they unite around the high court as a driving force in a presidential election. Democratic candidates are increasingly advocating "court packing," that is, upping the number of Supreme Court justices to balance the bench -- or ensure a liberal majority. The idea is unlikely to succeed for historical and practical reasons but its resonance on the campaign trail reflects Democrats' new emphasis on the...

When it comes to filling vacancies on the Supreme Court and lower courts, the Democrats have played nice for far too long. If you’re a Democratic partisan, the name Merrick Garland probably still makes your blood boil. And it should. As the Supreme Court prepares to issue verdict after verdict that will further entrench conservative power in the United States, the far-reaching effects of Mitch McConnell’s darkly clever Garland hold-up will only become more shocking and problematic. The most galling fact is this: in any sane political system, conservatives would be in the minority, both on the Supreme Court and...