For Immediate Release

Contact: Matt Lehrich, Marie Aberger

*SAVE THE DATE: FRIDAY, MARCH 12*
“THE SUPREME COURT IN CRISIS: STRUCTURAL REFORM OF A BROKEN INSTITUTION”

Yale Law School, Take Back the Court, American Constitution Society (Yale chapter) to Co-Host Part Two of Court Reform Symposium

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 4, 2021) — Yale Law School, along with Take Back the Court and the American Constitution Society (Yale Law School chapter), is co-hosting the second panel of a two-part symposium The Supreme Court in Crisis: Structural Reform of a Broken Institution. Pre-eminent law professors from around the country will address judicial reform at this virtual panel on March 12th at 12pm ET. Registration is required. 

The first panel in the series, on October 13th, outlined constraints, possibilities, and criteria for evaluating reform proposals. The second session next week will compare and contrast some of the most-discussed options for reform, including Supreme Court expansion. 

Aaron Belkin, director of Take Back the Court and Chair of the symposium, said, “We’re at a fork in the road: The Biden Courts Commission can either lead to bold solutions to save our democracy, or it can kick the can down the road. And as this week’s oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court showed us, the stakes are too high to choose anything but the first path. We are going to continue to keep the pressure up for real reform now.” 

“The Supreme Court is broken, and following Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace her, the court reform debate is more serious and urgent than it has been in any other time in nearly a century,” said Samuel Moyn, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and a Professor of History at Yale University who organized the symposium. “As the Biden Commission debates action, we must make it clear how to move with urgency.” 

Panelists will include:

  • Michael Klarman, Harvard Law School

  • Ganesh Sitaraman, Vanderbilt Law School

  • Christopher Jon Sprigman, New York University School of Law

  • Laura Weinrib, Harvard Law School

  • Melody Wang, Yale Law School


For more information on the discussion and to register, visit https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/yale-law-school-events/supreme-court-crisis-structural-reform-broken-institution-session-2.

Take Back the Court raises awareness about the urgent need to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court to address the theft of the court by Senator Mitch McConnell during the Obama Administration. Without adding seats, Congress will not be able to restore the right to vote, ensure reproductive freedom, protect workers, halt our climate emergency, or pass new legislation. Court expansion, which can be accomplished without a constitutional amendment, is the only reform that enables the un-rigging of the system and the restoration of democracy. Learn more: https://www.takebackthecourt.today/