Report: Emergency SCOTUS terrorism plan needed
An emergency Supreme Court, made up of justices selected and confirmed ahead of time, should be created so that the Court will be able to function should four or more justices be killed in a terror attack, according to a new report by government continuity experts.
Establishing such an emergency court would require only minor changes to federal law, according to the Continuity in Government Commission’s report.
Currently, the president could make recess appointments to the Court if it should fall below a six-justice quorum in an emergency situation. But, as noted in this Associated Press report, that could become problematic should the Court have to consider issues involving the legitimacy of the presidency or presidential actions.
While reconstituting the executive and legislative branches of government should take precedence over the judicial branch, the report said, getting the Supreme Court up and running quickly “is a matter that cannot be ignored.”
Under the proposed plan, justices selected from the emergency court would sit with remaining sitting Supreme Court justices until new justices could be confirmed by Congress. The counsel has made previous recommendations for reconstituting Congress and the judicial branch in the event of a terror attack.
