PRESIDENT OBAMA RECOGNIZES NEED FOR SUPREME COURT REFORM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 18, 2022) — Former President Barack Obama signaled on an episode of Pod Save America that he is open to reforming the Supreme Court in order to help build back the public’s trust in the institution. His remarks follow shortly on the heels of some apt criticism from President Joe Biden last week that the nation’s highest court is “more an advocacy group these days than it is an even handed" court.

In response to these comments, Take Back the Court Action Fund released the following statement on behalf of its executive director, Sarah Lipton-Lubet:

“The growing chorus of leaders, experts, and advocates who recognize that the Supreme Court is fundamentally broken and in need of structural reform is getting louder every day. Last week began with President Biden declaring the Supreme Court ‘more of an advocacy group’ than an impartial court, and ended with former President Obama expressing openness to Court reform. Coming on the heels of new polling showing a majority of Americans support expanding and rebalancing the Court, it is clear that as long as the stolen right-wing Supreme Court majority continues to function as the legal arm of the Republican National Committee, the Court will only continue to erode its own legitimacy.

"Court expansion is the only reform that would immediately rebalance the Court, bringing it in line with the preferences expressed by the American people in seven of the last eight presidential elections — an essential step to restoring legitimacy to the Court.”