The Supreme Court Justices

Most people think the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court can only be changed when one of the appointed Justices dies, resigns, retires or is impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. Not so.

There's a time-honored tradition for the makeup of the Supreme Court: change it's size. It's not the Constitution, but rather the Congress that determines the size. Throughout history the makeup has been increased and decreased six times!

In 1837, Congress increased the size from seven to nine in order to give Democrat Andrew Jackson two new appointments. During the Civil War, the court increased again to ten Justices to create an anti-slavery majority. Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to give himself six new appointments to win approval of his "New Deal", but failed to do so.

There's nothing set in stone about the number nine in regards to the number of Justices. If the right leaning Supreme Court continues to rule as it has, a Democratic President and Congress in '08 could change the makeup once again. The only problem with that, is that it would revive the time-honored tradition which could be used against them later down the road.