Power

This Bananas Supreme Court Term Is Why We Need to Expand the Courts

There’s a lot at stake in this new Supreme Court term.

[PHOTO: The exterior of the Supreme Court building]
Amy Coney Barrett's “nomination fight on steroids" begins Monday. Shutterstock

If you haven’t noticed, there’s just a little bit happening right now when it comes to the courts and the country: People have started voting in the election, voting lawsuits are underway in multiple jurisdictions, and an eight-justice Supreme Court convenes for the official start of a new term.

Oh, and let’s not forget Amy Coney Barrett and this week’s “nomination fight on steroids,” as Executive Editor Jessica Mason Pieklo so eloquently put it.

There’s a lot at stake in this new Supreme Court term, not least of which is the fate of 20 million people with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. In a chat with Elie Mystal, justice correspondent at the Nation, #TeamLegal and Boom! Lawyered hosts Pieklo and Senior Editor, Law and Policy, Imani Gandy chat about what’s to come—and what we can do about it.

Watch the video below as the trio discusses:

  • How nominee Amy Coney Barrett impacts the start of the upcoming term;
  • Mystal’s two arguments for expanding the courts (and why he doesn’t want to stop with the Supreme Court);
  • The myth of the moderate justice;
  • How a conservative supermajority effects areas such as LGBTQ and abortion rights; and
  • The dangers of constitutional originalism.

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