FDR's court-packing fiasco By K. Daniel Glover The Supreme
Court. The title alone lends an air of distinction to that
august legal body and its nine justices who sit in judgment on
an entire nation. And indeed, the United States' highest
tribunal, more than any other root of America's democratic tree,
is revered among the people. Factions may take issue with a
particular decision (the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion,
for instance) or heatedly debate the qualifications of a
particular justice (as they did with Clarence Thomas in 1991).
But rarely do they agitate against the court as an institution.
The Founding Fathers intentionally tried to insulate the court
from the passions of politics, and they largely succeeded. The
Supreme Court at times has become a political lightning rod, yet
the few attempts to attack it as an institution typically end in
embarrassing failure. The politically foolish mission of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt to "pack" the court with
justices favorable to his social policies is