When did the size of the US Supreme Court last change?
When did the size of the US Supreme Court last change?
1869
Fixed at nine justices by the Judiciary Act
The number has been six, five, seven, nine, ten and back to nine. It is set by ordinary legislation, not by the Constitution, so Congress could change it with a simple statute. Franklin Roosevelt attempted exactly that in 1937 and failed, and the episode is why proposals to change the number are still called court-packing regardless of who makes them.
- What
- Fixed at nine justices by the Judiciary Act
- When
- 1869
- Category
- Countries and borders
- Could this change?
- Yes. This streak could end, and if it does this page becomes a historical note rather than an answer.
Countries and borders
| Question | When |
|---|---|
| When did a country last join the United Nations? | 14 July 2011 |
| When was the US Constitution last amended? | 7 May 1992 |
| When did Britain last change its currency system? | 15 February 1971 |
| When did the US flag last change? | 4 July 1960 |
| When was a US state last admitted? | 21 August 1959 |
| When did a European country last change calendar? | 1923 |
| When did the Union Jack last change? | 1 January 1801 |
This page gives a date and never a "years ago". These pages are built as static files, so a computed interval would freeze at build time and quietly become wrong — which on a reference site is worse than making the reader do the subtraction.
Common questions
- When did the size of the US Supreme Court last change?
- 1869 — Fixed at nine justices by the Judiciary Act.
- What happened?
- The number has been six, five, seven, nine, ten and back to nine. It is set by ordinary legislation, not by the Constitution, so Congress could change it with a simple statute. Franklin Roosevelt attempted exactly that in 1937 and failed, and the episode is why proposals to change the number are still called court-packing regardless of who makes them.
- Could it happen again?
- Yes. This is one of the entries where the streak could plausibly end, which is stated on the page rather than left implied.
Related pages
- When did a country last join the United Nations? 14 July 2011
- When was the US Constitution last amended? 7 May 1992
- When did Britain last change its currency system? 15 February 1971
- When did the US flag last change? 4 July 1960
- When was a US state last admitted? 21 August 1959
- When did a European country last change calendar? 1923
- Everything, most recent first 36 last occurrences
Sources
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)