Letter to the editor: Republicans packed the Supreme Court

One often hears Republicans attacking the Democrats for wanting to "pack the court." Well, that ship has already sailed, and it was the Republicans who did the packing.

Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, approximately nine months before the 2016 election. Yet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate wouldn't even consider President Obama's selection of the eminently qualified Merrick Garland on the grounds that the person elected president in November 2016 should make the pick.

Donald Trump won that election — even though he received almost 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton — so later, in April 2017, McConnell lifted the filibuster to confirm Neil Gorsuch.

As if that weren't bad enough, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died a mere 46 days before the 2020 election, McConnell did a complete flip-flop and said that he would confirm President Trump's pick for the recently created opening, and he did.

I must also note that four of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade were nominated by a Republican president who entered office receiving fewer votes than his Democratic opponent. Roe v. Wade would not have been overturned without Republican "court packing."

Gary A. Schisler, Canton

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Letter to the editor: Republicans packed the Supreme Court