Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a stark warning ahead of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
In his annual report on the federal judiciary, released Tuesday, the chief justice argued that the United States must maintain “judicial independence,” as he wrote about threats to the federal justice system.
‘It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy. Most cases have a winner and a loser,” Roberts wrote in the 15-page report. according to Fox News.
‘Every government suffers defeats in the legal system – sometimes in cases with major consequences for the executive or legislative branches or other resulting issues.
“Nevertheless, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have followed in recent decades and the nation has avoided gridlocks that plagued the 1950s and 1960s,” he noted.
“In recent years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open contempt for federal court rulings.”
Roberts did not mention Trump, President Joe Biden or any other lawmaker in his report, despite public spats with both executives.
“These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be strongly rejected. Judicial independence is worth preserving,” Roberts argued.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a stark warning ahead of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House
Roberts did not mention Trump, President Joe Biden or any other lawmaker in his report, despite public spats with both executives
He then quoted the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who he said argued that an independent judiciary is “essential to the rule of law in any country” but “vulnerable to attack; it may be destroyed if the law of society is there to serve and does not ensure its preservation.”
“I urge all Americans to appreciate this legacy of our founding generation and cherish its endurance,” Roberts wrote.
He also quoted former Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, who once noted that the three branches of government must “work together in successful cooperation” to “enable the effective functioning of the government department, which is designed to protect judicial impartiality and independence the interests of liberty.’
“Our political system and economic strength depend on the rule of law,” Roberts said.
The Chief Justice further explained that the judiciary is threatened by intimidation and disinformation.
“Violence, intimidation and resistance directed against judges for their work undermine our Republic and are completely unacceptable,” he said, arguing that not everyone engages in “informed criticism” or anything even remotely close to it.
He argued that “attempts to intimidate judges over their rulings in cases are inappropriate and must be vigorously opposed,” noting that while officials and others can criticize rulings, they should also be aware that their comments are “dangerous.” can provoke reactions from officials’. ‘
Disinformation on social media can exacerbate these distortions and even be exploited by “hostile foreign state actors” to deepen divisions.
Roberts and Trump previously clashed in 2018, when the chief justice reprimanded the then-president for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge”
In some cases, Roberts noted, judges have even had to wear body armor at public events. according to the New York Times.
According to statistics from the US Marshals Service, threats against federal judges have more than tripled in the past decade.
State court judges in Wisconsin and Maryland were even murdered in their homes.
“Violence, intimidation and opposition to judges because of their work undermine our Republic and are completely unacceptable.”
The comments came after an eventful year at the Supreme Court, with Roberts issuing a landmark ruling last summer when the highest court ruled that the president of the United States has immunity from prosecution for official acts of office.
Republicans touted that ruling — and another that halted efforts to disqualify Trump from voting in Colorado — as major victories for the former president ahead of his victory.
However, Democrats, including President Biden, criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling in the immunity case — and Biden even called for term limits in the aftermath, as well as a code of ethics after reports of secret trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors.
Yet Roberts and Trump also clashed in 2018, when the chief justice rebuked the then-president for condemning a judge who had rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments next week on the constitutionality of a law that could ban TikTok
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments next week on the constitutionality of a law that could ban TikTok.
Trump begged the Supreme Court to halt implementation of the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications app, which would ban the video-sharing app by Jan. 19 if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company by then.
The new president’s controversial conservative agenda is also likely to face a legal challenge and end up before the nation’s highest court, whose conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term.