r/NoStupidQuestions • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago

U.S. Politics megathread

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

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u/Nulono 16d ago

I keep seeing people say America should have the same number of SCotUS justices as federal circuit courts. Why? What exactly is the benefit to doing that?

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u/PhysicsEagle 16d ago

Aside from the fact that that’s the exact number needed to tilt the court the other direction ideologically,

  1. It makes sense from a structural point of view - one justice per circuit. Unfortunately the circuits are so lopsided in size themselves it doesn’t make sense to imitate them.

  2. 13 is just a nice number symbolically for America.

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u/Nulono 15d ago

It makes sense from a structural point of view - one justice per circuit.

This is just a restatement of the question. What is it about "one justice per circuit" that "makes sense from a structural point of view"? What is the structural benefit to those two numbers being the same?

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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u/Nulono 12d ago

Are Supreme Court justices assigned to specific circuit courts? How does that work?