WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Elena Kagan says the longer the Supreme Court is stuck with only eight members, the more it has to deal with the prospect of not being able to decide cases.
Kagan said in an appearance at Harvard Law School that the court has decided some cases only by narrowing the issue so much, it left undecided the real reason the court took up the dispute in the first place. She says, “Over time, that’s a problem.”
The law school made a video of her Sept. 8 comments available on Friday.
The high court has been short-handed since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. President Barack Obama has nominated federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland as a replacement, but Senate Republicans have refused to hold a hearing or a vote.
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