When addressing four main threats to judicial independence (while leaving out those affecting the Supreme Court itself), Chief Justice John Roberts might as well have addressed Donald Trump directly.
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Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday outlined types of “illegitimate activity” that threaten judicial independence… and, even though he did not mention him by name, he might as well have directly addressed President-elect Donald Trump on some of them. It is also noteworthy that Roberts apparently does not believe that billionaires bankrolling the vacations of conservative Supreme Court justices and showering them with other gifts, or justices not recusing themselves from cases where there is a conflict of interest, constitute problems.
In his “Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary,” Roberts said he “felt compelled to address four areas” that threaten the independence of judges. Specifically, he listed violence, intimidation, disinformation, and threats to defy lawfully entered judgments.
Trump has been engaging in some of these behaviors for years.
Both as president and as a private citizen convicted of a felony earlier this year (and accused of committing several others), he has frequently attacked judges who didn’t do what he wanted or ruled against him.
Roberts seems to make reference to that.
“Public officials, too, regrettably have engaged in recent attempts to intimidate judges — for example, suggesting political bias in the judge’s adverse rulings without a credible basis for such allegations,” Roberts stated.
Trump also frequently lies about his cases and court decisions, which is another problem Roberts identifies.
“At its most basic level, distortion of the factual or legal basis for a ruling can undermine confidence in the court system,” he stated. “Our branch is peculiarly ill-suited to combat this problem, because judges typically speak only through their decisions.”
Of course, Roberts himself did just that during Trump’s first term, when he took issue with the then-president’s suggestion that “Obama judges” were ruling against him.
Finally, Trump has already announced that he plans to put in place various policies of questionable legality when he takes the oath of office in less than three weeks, such as ending birthright citizenship on day one.
The question is what the incoming administration will do when some of his efforts are thwarted or delayed.
Roberts seems concerned about the possibility of an emboldened Trump disregarding court rulings.
“Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system — sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics,” Roberts stated. “Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed.”
While making this out to be a bipartisan issue, it is notable that Roberts chooses this moment to point out this problem.
“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 stated. “These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.”
Roberts also expressed grave concerns over an increase in violence and threats against judges, stating that “hostile threats and communications” directed at them tripled over the past decade.
Of course, that also includes the arrest of a man outside of Brett Kavanaugh’s house who has been charged with attempting to assassinate the Supreme Court justice. He is scheduled to go on trial in June.
In addition, another man was sentenced to 14 months in prison earlier this year for threatening Roberts himself.
However, notably absent from the threats to an independent judiciary that the chief justice outlined are the ethical problems of the Supreme Court itself.
Revelations throughout the past couple of years have shown that Clarence Thomas has accepted gifts and trips from “friends,” who often happen to be rich conservatives, that total more than $2 million dollars… and those are just the ones we know about.
Fellow justice Samuel Alito also failed to disclose a right-wing billionaire-funded trip.
In addition, both justices seem to have serious conflicts of interest related to any case involving Trump’s 2020 coup attempt but did not recuse themselves.
All of these are serious problems that Roberts keeps failing to address… both in word and deed.
While he is right to point to the other threats to the judiciary, it is high time that he cleans up his own court.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
