David Zimmermann writes for National Review Online about a year-end assessment from the nation’s top judicial official.
Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts sharply criticized elected officials on both sides of the political aisle for undermining the federal judiciary in several ways.In his year-end report released Tuesday, Roberts noted four areas of “illegitimate activity” that threaten judicial independence: violence, intimidation, disinformation, and open defiance of court rulings.
In 2024, the Supreme Court dealt with several high-profile cases and made decisions that were unpopular among Democrats. The arguably most notable ruling gave president-elect Donald Trump immunity from official acts committed while in office, which erased some of the allegations in the now-dismissed federal case that alleged he attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The conservative supermajority’s 6-3 decision sparked backlash from Democratic lawmakers.
While judicial decisions won’t please everyone and will likely come at the expense of a presidential administration, Roberts expects those decisions to be followed as they have in the past.
“Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings,” he wrote in his 15-page report. “These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.”The chief justice did not mention anyone by name, but he did cite an instance in which an elected official called for the impeachment of a federal district judge who ruled in a “high-profile case” this past year. Roberts condemned the attempt to intimidate this particular federal judge.
“Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” he said. “Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others.”
