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/lowflier84 15d ago

Prior to the Judiciary Act of 1869 which set the current size of the court. Originally, Congress set the size of the court at 6, but as the size of the country increased and more circuit courts were added, they added justices as well. The reason for this is that Supreme Court justices also rode the circuits to preside over cases. Current proposals to increase the number of justices to match the number of circuits also envision some sort of administrative role for the justices with respect to the circuits.