Hello and welcome to the political orphanage, a home for people focused on Fixing Systems more than Scoring Points.

I'm your host, Andrew Heaton.

Used to be if you joined the Supreme Court, we made you ride a horse. That was literally a part of your job. I am not making that

up. In fact it was probably the single most irritating part of being on the

Supreme Court. Justices routinely bitched about it right up until

1891 when we finally relented. But riding a horse was built into the job of

Supreme Court justice for over a hundred years. You don't believe me. You think this is one of my funny sketches? It is not.

Today's episode is a comprehensive look at the history and future of court packing,

as well as what I believe are some much needed reforms for the Supreme Court

as it starts to smolder like the other two branches of government.

But to contextualize all of that,

to give you an idea of where these reforms are coming from

and what has been done in the past,

we first need to explore the foundations of the institution itself a bit more,

the development of the court's power and the changing composition of the Supreme Court.

Top half of this episode,

there's a fun romp through history, gavels and powdered wigs.

Second half is ideas to reform the court in light of present rancor and political backlash.

If you were a member of the Senate, you should listen to that part.

Anyway, back to horses.

Let's recount the various levels of courts in the federal judiciary.

You start with your district courts.

...