Bierman Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal

ALI Member Luke Bierman, dean of Elon University School of Law in North Carolina, wrote an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal. His piece, “Eight Justices Won’t Do—but Six Were Fine for 1789,” Dean Bierman examines the current impasse over the next Supreme Court justice. 

He writes “Lost in all this is the reality that the size of the court isn’t constitutionally ordained. The tradition of seating nine members hasn’t changed since the 1860s, but before that the number bounced around like a basketball in the Supreme Court’s gym. Besides, even if it made sense to have nine justices in 1869, does it still make sense in 2016?”

Dean Bierman’s legal scholarship focuses on judicial selection, justice system reform, state constitutional law, and ethics. He serves on the Members Consultative Group for ALI’s Principles of the Law, Government Ethics project and the Project on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct on Campus, Procedural Frameworks and Analysis.

Read the full piece on The Wall Street Journal’s site. Subscription may be required.