Chief Justice Roberts defends Supreme Court against charges of partisan rulings
Chief Justice john roberts In a statement Wednesday, he lamented what he described as a widespread misunderstanding of the Supreme Court’s work, pushing back against criticism that many of the court’s most high-profile cases have resulted in conservative outcomes.
“People think we make policy decisions,” Roberts said at a conference with lawyers and judges in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when asked what he thought Americans misunderstood most about the institution he has led for more than two decades.
“I think they see us as truly political actors,” he said, “which I don’t think is a proper understanding of what we do.”
Roberts’ remarks came just days after the court handed down a blockbuster decision Eliminate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act — a decision that lawmakers in many southern states have used to justify a chaotic effort to redraw congressional boundaries to help Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. This decision, made by a six-judge conservative wing opposed by a three-judge liberal bloc, drew sharp criticism from Democrats and voting rights groups; some of these renewed calls for court reform.
Last week’s ruling also sparked a heated exchange between three conservative justices: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — and days later liberal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson wrote: court A technical dispute that arose in the wake of the Voting Rights Act decision should have remained on the sidelines “to avoid the appearance of bias.”
“What principle did the court violate?” Alito responded in agreement. “The principle that we should never take any action that could be unfairly criticized as partisan?”
On a broader level, Roberts’ plea on Wednesday comes as the court enters the final months of his term, which has been filled with landmark cases involving President Donald Trump’s authority to reshape the federal government. The court annulled one of these decisions in February. Trump’s sweeping global tariffs a decision that sparked harsh and personal criticism of the president.
Trump said the judges who ruled against him, including two he appointed, were “an embarrassment to their families.”
Speaking at a conference hosted by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, Roberts reiterated past comments that criticism of the court’s decision is fair game but said people should “be a little more careful” about equating personal criticism of judges.
“As soon as that happens,” he said, “it’s not OK.”
The chief justice did not specifically mention Trump and did not discuss any of the high-profile cases in which the justices have dabbled in the term.
Roberts interviewed U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Chagares, the chief judge of the 3rd Circuit, who was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush. Chagares focused mostly on softball questions, asking Roberts for advice she would give to judges, lawyers and a younger version of herself.
Answering a question about the court’s increasingly lengthy oral arguments, Roberts made some news for those who follow the institution closely. The chief justice said the format adopted by judges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic meant arguments were taking “too long” and that he planned to “look at this issue over the summer”.
At one point during Roberts’ speech, a woman in the audience unexpectedly stood up and began speaking to the chief justice. It turned out that he just wanted her to speak more clearly into the microphone.
Roberts looked relieved.
“I thought it was a protest,” he joked.
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