Supreme Court Solution

The United States of America Supreme Court is dysfunctional. It fails to keep up with equality and is divisive along party lines. As a solution for this partisan political mess, I think we should have a Supreme Court bench made up of four republicans, four democrats, and four independents for Supreme Court Justices. 

There would need to be a nine-judge agreement to uphold, change, or make laws for the land. And let’s say a republican Justice retired or died and that position needed replaced. If the President at the time is, let’s say, democrat, then that President would have to appoint a republican replacement. If an independent on the bench likewise needed replaced and a republican President nominated a replacement, then that person would have to be independent party or no affiliation of any party to qualify for the position. The Senate would have to vote to replace an independent on the bench with another independent or non-party candidate.

So, no matter the party the President belongs to, he or she would have to replace that party Justice with another of the same party. Unless, of course, the independent is of no party affiliation, then the President would nominate from that pool of qualified candidates. Also, there should be for every Justice an understudy just like they do for theater lead actors. This is so that when a Justice gets sick or retires and before a replacement, the understudy steps in to make rulings. These understudies would also be of the same party affiliation as their chair or Justice.

Why do we have just one Supreme Court? The second part of the solution is to simply establish another, or two Supreme Courts also made up of twelve Justices – four each democrat, independent, and republican. If one Supreme Court cannot agree on a decision of at least nine Justices, then that court could pass the case on to one of the other courts. If none of the courts can come to an agreement in a timely manner, then there should be a pool of equal parts of nationwide federal judges (12 independents, 12 democrats, 12 republicans) from which a random drawing occurs for that judge to make the decision for the case. Statistically speaking, this is the most equal way to assure a fair and impartial outcome.

The random drawing of the federal judge should be as simple as a child drawing a piece of paper with a name on it from a hat. Digital computers are in question as being hackable, so let’s go back to the basics and make it as simple and fair as possible. The random federal judges can be chosen every year to serve on the board as possible choices for the drawing. In fact, we can go even further and make the nationwide pool of federal judges a lottery for every case coming up for federal review that we now put forth for the Supreme Court. Wahla, no more Supreme Court Justices are even needed. 

Going further still, we can have this same system (computerized version) for state level cases for any county in the state. This way, jurors are randomly selected from all over the state to sit for a specific case on Zoom (does not matter what county the case is from). This system also works state to state. They discuss and decide the defendants' case all from the internet. Not only that but the judge presiding over the case is also randomly selected for any case statewide. The reason this works better than our current court system is that many times the judge and jurors are very familiar with a defendant on a personal level which is an extreme bias for that defendants' case. The Judge also is on Zoom for the case or hearing and renders judgement via internet. This eliminates any fraud or court tampering or bias for any defendant. It also helps clear up court cases as it is so much easier for people to go to their lawyer's office and get on Zoom or from their home computer. Likewise, witnesses, evidence, detectives, lawyers, etc. can all have scheduled time to present their side for each case. This not only saves time for all involved, but it also saves money and gas as people get used to going to court online. Might I also mention that this system will significantly cut down on the massive amounts of paperwork and tree cutting for paper (my personal favorite benefit).

No matter what party you belong to or not, as citizens we should all be confident that there is equal representation under the law. We should not have to put up with bickering among our lawmakers or politicians vying for supremacy. This same method can be used in many of our political divides such as Congress. Why have a disproportionate number from one party making laws for such a diverse nation? The Congress should all be randomly chosen participants for each bill. This way, no one will be able to lobby or influence representatives or senators as even they do not know if they will be chosen to decide yes or no on a bill. Going ever further, why can't we have Congress on Zoom, too? Gatherings of parties or groups can have their meetings online. Just look at all the airplane fuel and ticket money saved! You be the judge. We are all in this together whether we like it or not.

© Copyright, 2/8/2022, Supreme Court Solution, April Graves-Minton, Love MoonEagle. All Rights Reserved.