Around New England

Up U.S. Supreme Court From 9 to 15 Justices, Democrat Says

July 3, 2018

One of the Democrats running to replace U.S. Representative Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire says the U.S. Supreme Court should be increased from nine justices now to 15 — one for each federal circuit court of appeals plus the military appeals court.

Terence O’Rourke, 39, city attorney for Rochester, New Hampshire, offered an approach that looks a lot like President Franklin Roosevelt’s court-packing plan in 1937.

“The number nine is not in the Constitution,” O’Rourke told the Conway Daily Sun. “It is not written in stone. It can be changed by Congress. When the people founded this country no one dreamed of growing up to be a Supreme Court justice until they died. … So when we take over the presidency in 2021, and we have the House and Senate, let’s increase it by six. And I think thereafter if a judge reaches 70 years old, and they don’t retire, you add another justice.”

O’Rourke also supports the legalization of marijuana.