JACKSON, Miss. – In an effort to fully support the grassroot efforts to keep an independent Supreme Court that has had nine justices for 150 years, the Mississippi Federation of Republican Women voted and passed the resolution to support the “Keep Nine” Amendment at its Fall Board of Directors meeting held Saturday, October 23.

The proposed “Keep Nine” Amendment to the U.S. Constitution simply states: “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices.”  Identical Congressional resolutions, S.J. Res. 9 and H.J. Res. 11, have been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to preserve the independence of the United State Supreme Court.

The proposed Amendment is now backed by more than 200 members of Congress and a bipartisan total of more than 1,000 elected officials nationwide.  It was first introduced in Congress by Rep. Collin Peterson (D – MN) in September 2020.

The Constitution is silent on the size of the Supreme Court.  Without an Amendment defining the number of Justices, a future Congress and President could change that number for political advantage, a bias strategy known as “court packing.”  The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opposed court packing.

To secure the independence of the Court, a new 28th Amendment would permanently preserve the historical number of nine Supreme Court Justices, similarly to how the 22nd Amendment permanently preserved the longstanding two-term limit for Presidents.

For the proposed “Keep Nine” Amendment to advance, we need your public support to help raise awareness about the dangers of court packing for political bias and the need to Constitutionally preserve the Supreme Court at nine justices, so that no future Congress and President, regardless of political party, could manipulate the number of Justices on the Supreme Court for political gain.

For more information on this grassroots effort and to endorse the “Keep Nine” Amendment please visit KeepNine.org for additional information.