Americans should be able to trust their elected officials to govern fairly based on values that go beyond what is written in the constitution. Fairness, honor and civility must play a role in how our civic institutions operate, otherwise our government is nothing more than a hyper partisan battleground. I can say with certainty that Republicans, in recent years, have failed in this regard.

Senate Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barret to the Supreme Court less than two weeks before an election, not because they cared about respecting their own precedent but simply because they could. The fact of the matter is that Republicans have played dirty to push through an unpopular agenda for years. 

But when you’re a party that has only won the national popular vote once after 1988 you have to resort to bending the rules to get your way. One of the clearest examples of this is how Mitch McConnel used his position as Senate Majority Leader to keep Barack Obama from making judicial appointments and force Donald Trump’s through.

After the 2014 midterms, when the GOP took control of the Senate, McConnel and the Republicans stopped holding votes on almost all of Obama’s federal, district, and, of course, Supreme Court nominees. This was not normal behavior from the Senate as historically presidents have been given the opportunity to appoint judges with the opposing party in the Senate.

Furthermore, the Senate had a tradition where federal judge appointees need the consent of both Senators from the state that their judicial district is in and the approval of a majority of senators. However, this tradition was abandoned by GOP Senators. When Trump nominated Daniel Collins and Kenneth Lee to the 9th circuit court of appeals Senators Diane Fienstein and Kamala Harris from California both disapproved. Republican Senators ignored Feinstein and Harris’ will and confirmed the judges anyway.

Given that the Democratic party is poised to take control of the presidency and congress, many are calling for Democrats to pack the courts in response to the GOP’s extreme partisan handling of America’s judiciary. In response, some voters and politicians are saying that packing the courts would be an unnecessary and extreme retaliation on behalf of the Democrats. However, why is it wrong for Democrats to pack the courts after Republicans have done virtually the same thing recently?

After getting bullied out of two Supreme Court seats and many other federal judge picks, Democrats should feel emboldened to place two to four new Justices on the Supreme Court. There is no law or written code anywhere that limits the number of Supreme Court justices allowed at a given time, in fact the amount of Justices on the Supreme Court has changed seven times in United States history.

So while it is fair to say that Democrats would be breaking judicial norms similar to the way Republicans have if they choose to expand the court, there is still some historical precedent for it.

If the Democratic party wins overwhelmingly on election day,, it should be taken as a sign that the American public wants a drastic change in the values their government prioritizes. This means that the conservatively dominated judiciary must be overhauled with new judges that will guide America in the direction voters choose. Like McConnell reasoned when he refused to hold a vote on Merrick Garland, If packing the courts is the only way to get there, then it is absolutely necessary.