Over the past decade, legislators in several states have sought to expand or reduce the number of justices on their highest courts. In some cases, they admit their intent to tilt the ideological balance.
By Alan Greenblatt | Governing
J.D. Mesnard has heard all the complaints. Mesnard, the speaker pro tempore of the Arizona House, sponsored a bill to expand the size of the state Supreme Court from five justices to seven. It was immediately lambasted by liberals as a “court-packing” scheme, a partisan ploy to ensure GOP control of the already conservative court.