Bacon King
Atlas Politician
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Posts: 18,833
Political Matrix
E: -7.63, S: -9.49
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« on: October 24, 2016, 09:17:09 AM » |
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It actually wouldn't take very long at all to have a functionally nonexistent Supreme Court. Per federal law, the Supreme Court requires a quorum of six Justices present in order to hear and/or decide a case. Once the court is down to 5 it wouldn't be able to do anything*. In such a situation the remaining Justices are allowed to vote on postponing a case until the following term if they think they'll have a quorum then. Otherwise it's the same as if it was a tied court.
* = technically, there is one situation when the Court can act without a quorum. An appeal coming directly from a district court can be remitted to the relevant appeals court so they reach a decision en banc in the Supreme Court's stead.
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