During the first 80 years of the Court, the number of justices changed 7 times. The number ranged from as few as 5 to as high as 10. The Judiciary Act of 1869, also known as the Circuit Judges Act of 1869, set the number of justices for the Supreme Court at 9.
Compare this with the 179 judges in the United States Court of Appeals. With 13 Circuits, there is an average of 14 judges in each Circuit Court, the smallest (the First Circuit) with 10 judges and the largest (the Ninth Circuit) with 29.
Yet We the People have been beholden to a number of justices by a law that has not been changed for 150 years.
The approximate population of the United States in 1869 was nearly 39 million.
The approximate population today is over 331 million.
So in 1869, there was one Supreme Court Justice for ever 4.3 million people. That ratio today is one Supreme Court Justice for every 36.8 million people.
And, I can't emphasize this enough: that number is based on a statute that is 150 years old.
Not the Constitution. A statute. Enacted by Congress.
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