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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 04/10/2026

.@mawaldman.bsky.social to @washingtonpost.com: “Throughout American history, reform follows scandal.” It's not a given but … 1/2 washingtonpost.com/politics/…/democrats-are-making-plans-clean-up-government-post-trump-era

washingtonpost.com

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

So there'd be regular turnover. Each president could leave an equal imprint on the bench and avoid the situation where one president could get three, four, five, or even more picks -- and others (like President Carter) who got none.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

That's one reason among many that we need term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices. Under the most popular proposal, justices would serve for 18 years before transitioning to senior status. Importantly, this means each president would get two -- and only two -- SCOTUS noms.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This would be a textbook case of a strategic retirement. Justices timing their exits to happen under a particular president undermines trust in judicial impartiality. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

(In his interview, Alito appeared to be talking about next year...but a Justice can leave whenever they want.)

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Majority Leader John Thune already said earlier this summer that the Senate would jam through a successor in the lame duck if the Senate flips and a justice retires.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Exactly one month out from an election that will decide who controls the U.S. Senate -- the chamber every judicial nominee needs to clear -- Justice Alito confirms in a television interview that he is considering retirement from the high court. 1/

politico.com

Justice Alito confirms he is considering retirement

The conservative Supreme Court justice said in a CBS News interview that he’ll revisit the issue next year.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

New piece for the @brennancenter.org by Kermit Roosevelt: How to Fix the Supreme Court’s Design Flaw History suggests that giving each president equal influence over the Court’s makeup could produce a healthier institution. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

brennancenter.org

How to Fix the Supreme Court’s Design Flaw

History suggests that giving each president equal influence over the Court’s makeup could produce a healthier institution.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The administration has now filed 41 emergency applications. That’s as many as the Trump administration filed in his entire first term.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I spoke with @axios.com about the Trump administration’s unprecedented use of the shadow docket to get SCOTUS to revive presidential policies that lower-court judges—including judges appointed by presidents of both parties—have found likely unlawful. www.axios.com/2026/09/29/t...

axios.com

Trump leans on SCOTUS shadow docket more than Biden, Obama and Bush combined

Trump's 41 filings far outpace the emergency applications of recent administrations.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Friendly reminder that Senator Klobuchar’s father was a sportswriter for the StarTrib and she literally wrote a book on the Metrodome. She knows sports and facts. 🏀✅

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We need reform to the shadow docket, and Congress needs to act. First, the justices should have to explain themselves when issuing their decisions. That's what courts are supposed to do. Explain themselves. Second, the shadow docket should only be used for true emergencies.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Now, as has become its habit, the administration is asking the Supreme Court to weigh-in now, and not wait for the case to reach the Court in the usual way--after a trial and/or more extensive consideration.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The latest case involves the administration's efforts to deny gender affirming care to people who are incarcerated. A Reagan-appointed federal district judge ruled the Trump administration violated federal law when it issued this new policy denying said care.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Trump administration has been using the shadow docket in unprecedented ways to urge the Supreme Court to expedite review of lower court decisions—made by judges appointed by presidents of both parties—that have found the administration's actions to be likely unlawful.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today the Trump administration hit a new milestone. It filed its 41st application on the Supreme Court's shadow docket. Forty-one. That's how many it filed during the president's *entire* first term.

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 25/09/2026

"If mounting threats and baseless impeachments influence who is willing to serve as a judge, how judges make decisions or whether their families can live safely, we risk allowing intimidation to infect the judicial process," a former federal judge writes in @thehill.com.

thehill.com

Attacks and threats against federal judges have spiked, and it threatens our democracy

If those in power continue attacking judges with violent words and images without consequence, we risk losing the founders’ design of judicial independence.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Congressional Women’s Softball Game live on @c-span.bsky.social 🥎

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

NEW: Today Marquette released fresh September polling on SCOTUS. Public approval continues to decline. 📉 But support for Supreme Court term limits remains strong & resilient at 79 percent—including supermajorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.

today.marquette.edu

Marquette Law School Poll finds approval of United States Supreme Court declines from 47% to 43% | Marquette Today

Also: A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds approval of the United States Supreme Court dipped to 43% in September, down from 47% in July. Disapproval rose to 57% in September, from 53...

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Something the House of Representatives spent time on today before leaving until mid-November. 🦖🦕

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

New Hampshire’s Chief Justice resigned today—the result of an investigation done pursuant to transparent, enforceable judicial ethics rules. By contrast, SCOTUS—the highest court in the land—has no such rules. That must change.

nhpr.org

NH Chief Justice MacDonald announces resignation; ethics probe loomed

Gordon MacDonald, the state's top judge, announced his sudden resignation on Tuesday. He was facing potential discipline for his role in a unique personnel maneuver that benefited a top ally.

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 15/09/2026

BREAKING: Tonight’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for the millions of American citizens who rely on mail voting. The Trump administration tried to use the postal service to interfere in our elections: it failed. 1/2

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Great to join @katieleebarlow.bsky.social to discuss the @brennancenter.org’s recent report on the barrage of threats that federal judges and their families are facing at a time of democracy under strain. District court judges in particular are on the front lines of upholding our Constitution.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”—Mr. Rogers

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The Supreme Court has had its own building for only about 91 years. Kind of remarkable, when you think about it. Congress otherwise loaned the Court space in the Capitol, most recently the Old Senate Chamber.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The AP covers the important research @brennancenter.org published this week about the barrage of threats and intimidation aimed at federal judges. Long term, there really can be a danger to the rule of law, as @gowriramachandran.bsky.social discusses below.

abcnews.com

US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats

Two new studies provide chilling testimony about the spike in threats against federal judges

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The @washingtonpost.com just covered a major new report that the @brennancenter.org published today. We interviewed 35 sitting & retired federal judges. What they told us was chilling: judges and their families are facing a barrage of threats to their safety. This must be addressed.

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 31/08/2026

New: Federal judges and their families are facing extraordinary pressures. Improved security can ensure that they remain safe and that judicial independence remains uncompromised. Here are our recommendations.

brennancenter.org

Protecting Judges from Rising Threats

Federal judges and their families are facing extraordinary pressures. Improved security can ensure that they remain safe and that judicial independence remains uncompromised.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Here's what happened today at SCOTUS re: voting ⬇️

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Excellent profile by the @newyorker.com's Margaret Talbot on the Chief Justice, including the reminder that he was once a strong proponent of term limits for federal judges so that they'd "not lose all touch with reality."

newyorker.com

The Delusions of John Roberts

The Chief Justice insists that his Supreme Court isn’t biased even as it keeps making dramatic leaps rightward.

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 20/08/2026

Lawmakers are laying out a vision to reform a clearly broken Supreme Court. bit.ly/4glJ7w4

brennancenter.org

Supreme Court Reform Gathers Momentum

The public wants a better Court, and politicians are listening.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Terrific conversation with @brennancenter.org President @mawaldman.bsky.social, Sr. Fellow @kornbergmaya.bsky.social and former Congressman @tommalinowski.bsky.social on how to unstick Congress on The Briefing with Michael Waldman. Get it wherever you get your podcasts, or below:

youtube.com

Let’s Unstick Congress (with Tom Malinowski and Maya Kornberg)

YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

61 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act became law. Congress then reauthorized it five times—each time with overwhelming bipartisan votes. Then the Roberts Court started dismantling it. Congress must be repair & strengthen the VRA after the damage done by the Supreme Court.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Tomorrow marks the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. I'm sharing some thoughts on what it can teach us about Supreme Court reform.

brennancenter.org

What the Voting Rights Act Can Teach About Supreme Court Reform

No institution should be beyond meaningful democratic accountability.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Public opinion on the Supreme Court continues to decline. This is not healthy for democracy. Polls are one barometer to track over time, and we're compiling them here. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

brennancenter.org

Public Polling on the Supreme Court

The data includes sentiment on the Supreme Court itself and reform proposals.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This by @pewresearch.org is the third major poll this month showing rock bottom approval of the Supreme Court. Note the historic partisan gap in approval of the Court. It is not healthy to have this degree of polarization between Republicans and Democrats.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Re-upping this Gallup poll from yesterday and the public's record disapproval of the Supreme Court. Note how 25 years ago -- when the Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush -- approval barely took a dip. Approval took a dive after Dobbs and it's only getting worse.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Ultimately the American people are fed up with the rampant corruption. There are solutions. Check this out to learn more: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

brennancenter.org

Nine Solutions for Political Corruption

A new era of anticorruption reform is long overdue.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

When it comes to electing presidents by popular vote — instead of the Electoral College — states can enter into an interstate compact to make that happen, as the @brennancenter.org explains here: www.brennancenter.org/topics/votin...

brennancenter.org

Electoral College Reform

We support constitutional reforms that would eliminate the Electoral College in favor of direct election of the president by a national popular vote.

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