CSA v. Arabi
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| Argued July 8, 2020 Decided August 19, 2020 | |
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| Full case name | Constitutional Scholars Association v. United Socialist States of Arabi |
| Questions presented | |
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| Holding | |
| Congress must pass an amendment that (1) changes the number of seats on the supreme court; or (2) allows for a statute to change the number of seats. The Congress and the states legislature must approve of said amendment within one year of this ruling, otherwise the president must, by constitutional duty, appoint a tenth member to the supreme court. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Sanchez, joined by Marshall, Hammond, Houghton, Wyatt, Dodson, Cooke, Knowles, Berg |
CSA v. Arabi is a case in which the Supreme Court of Arabi ruled that the Congress and subsequent state legislatures must pass an amendment that either changes the number of seats on the court or allows for Congress to pass a statute that can change the number of seats on the court. This case was decided by a 9–0 vote.
The Constitutional Scholars of Arabi had been trying to bring their case before the Supreme Court between 2012-2020. They brought similar cases before inferior courts, all of which were dismissed mainly citing "not enough evidence provided to suffiencently rule in favor." The Supreme Court agreed to hear their case in May 2020 and scheduled oral arguments for July 8, 2020.
The Court decided the case on August 19, 2020.
Opinion of the Court
Majority opinion
Chief Justice Audra Sanchez authored the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Luke Marshall, Joe Hammond, Jamie Houghton, Luke Wyatt, Mary Dodson, Peter Cooke, Olivia Knowles, and Katherine Berg. The majority held that while the federal government has been violating the consitutional duty of allowing the president to nominate a tenth justice to the Supreme Court, they would allow for leeway for the Congress and subsequent state legislatures to pass an amendment to change the consitution.
In closing, Chief Justice Sanchez wrote for the Court:
The federal government of Arabi, since 1839, has been in violation of its own constitution by not requiring the president of Arabi to nominate a tenth justice to the highest Court in Arabi. The constitution makes it abundantly clear that it is the duty of the president to nominate justices to the Supreme Court, it also makes clear that there shall be ten justices seated on the court at any given time, unless a vacancy should arise, the Justices in the majority agree that this must be followed, are allowing for the Congress and subsequent state legislatures to pass an amendment that changes the number of seats or allows for Congress to change the number of seats by a federal statute, passed within both houses of Congress. The said amendment must pass within one year of this Courts ruling, otherwise this Court will require the President to do his/her consitutional duty and nominate a tenth member to the Supreme Court.
Dissenting opinion
There were no dissenting opinion for this case.
Effects
Support
Most liberals and some conservatives support this case and the decision that was made by the court.
Opposition
Some conservatives saw this as a win for president Freeman. The passing of an amendment to the Constitution of Arabi is rather difficult and usually can take many years to pass.