Court-packing — the act of adding judges to get favorable outcomes — is a no-go for anyone who cares about protecting a republic from backsliding into totalitarianism. Venezuela, Cuba, Poland, Hungary, and El Salvador, among other nations, are cautionary tales of what happens to countries who cheat the system by filling the courts with loyalists.
And yet, Utah has just done exactly that. On January 31, Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed Senate Bill 134 into law, increasing the Supreme Court from five to seven justices.
Glenn Beck is enraged that it was Republicans — who have historically rejected court-packing as a dangerous, anti-democratic move — who pushed this through.
“Any country that has ever done this, they fall into totalitarianism because they realize they can just change the referees. They’ll just add more referees, and they’ll add the referees they like,” he says, dismissing the Utah Republicans behind this judicial move as “hypocrites.”
Utah has been having problems with its judges legislating, instead of just interpreting existing laws, as is their designated role, he explains. This issue largely stems from the fact that Utah has adopted the Missouri Plan, in which a list of suitable judicial candidates is compiled by legal experts before the governor makes his or her selection.
“Can we stop being a country run by experts? We see exactly what the experts have done in every category. Stop it,” Glenn pleads.
The real issue, he says, is massive delays and overload in lower state courts. For years, Utahns have begged for reform but to no avail. Some may perceive the state government’s decision to add judges to the Supreme Court — which “wasn’t overrun” — as a solution to their woes, but it’s really just a power grab.
“This is not about efficiency. This is all about control,” Glenn says, “and I understand you have bad judges and they’ve been legislating, but you don’t do this, Utah.”
Republicans, accustomed to controlling Utah, have grown “soft,” “mushy,” and “embarrassed that they actually believe in the Constitution,” he explains, and now that they’ve “made all these mistakes, all these compromises,” they’re doing damage control by packing the Supreme Court.
“Republicans, you don’t get a pass here because Democrats would do it too. That argument damns the republic. … A legislature that expands a court after losing cases is not defending a republic. It’s announcing, constitutional limits only apply, you know, unless they’re inconvenient,” Glenn criticizes.
The root issue of Utah’s hypocritical compromising, he argues, can be found in America’s universities, which “despise the Constitution” and are teaching America’s future judges, journalists, lawyers, and bureaucrats that Marxism is morality.
“In a state that was raised on the Constitution, you know better than this,” Glenn says to Utah Republicans.
“Why are you shrinking from conflict, as if defending principles is somehow impolite?” he asks. “It is not impolite. It is required of you to stand. A republic cannot survive this kind of shyness. … You must stand, or you will lose everything.”
To hear more, watch the video above.
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