Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned on Tuesday that the United States must maintain its “judicial independence” just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Mr. Roberts laid out his concerns in his annual report on the federal judiciary.
“It is not in the nature of the judiciary’s job to make everyone happy. There are winners and losers in most cases. Every government loses in the court system. Sometimes when it comes to executive, legislative, or other important issues. In some cases, the consequences are significant,” Robert wrote in the 15-page report. “Nevertheless, for the past few decades, court decisions, popular or not, have been followed, and the nation has avoided the conflicts that plagued the 1950s and 1960s.”
Roberts did not name Trump or President Biden or any specific members of Congress, but said, “Over the past few years, elected officials across the political spectrum have openly ignored federal court rulings. There are growing concerns that this may occur.” “These dangerous proposals, however sporadic, must be firmly rejected. Judicial independence is worth preserving. As my late colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote: An independent judiciary is “essential to the rule of law in any land,” but it is “fragile.” If the laws that exist to protect societies are not taken care of, societies can collapse. be.”
“I urge all Americans to appreciate this legacy from our nation’s founding generations and cherish its perseverance,” Roberts said.
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Mr. Roberts also quoted Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes: “To enable the effective functioning of the branches of government designed to protect the interests of liberty with judicial impartiality and independence. said the three branches of government “must work well together.” . ”
Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor stand on the floor of the House of Representatives in advance of President Biden’s annual State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. (Sean Shue Pool/Getty Images) )
“Our political institutions and economic strength depend on the rule of law,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts’ landmark Supreme Court immunity decision, along with another high court decision halting efforts to disqualify Trump from voting, is being defended as a major victory for Republican candidates on their path to election victory. It was done. The immunity decision was criticized by Democrats like Biden, who later announced that term limits and enforceable restrictions would be imposed following criticism of private travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some judges. demanded a code of ethics.
Several Democrats and one Republican called on Biden to ignore last year’s decision by a Trump-appointed judge to revoke FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. Biden declined to take executive action to circumvent the ruling, but the Supreme Court later granted an injunction allowing the White House to continue selling the drug.
The Supreme Court will convene in Washington, DC on February 5, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The high court’s conservative majority ruled last year that Biden’s massive student loan debt cancellation effort was an illegal exercise of executive power.
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Mr. Roberts and Mr. Trump clashed in 2018 when the chief justice reprimanded the president for calling a judge who rejected an immigration asylum policy an “Obama judge.”
In 2020, Roberts criticized comments made by New York Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer while the Supreme Court was considering a high-profile abortion case.
Roberts began Tuesday’s letter by recounting the story of King George III stripping colonial judges of their lifetime appointments, an order that was “not very well received.” Trump is currently preparing for his second term as president with an ambitious conservative agenda, elements of which are legally challenged and could end up in court. That conservative majority includes three judges appointed by Trump during his first term.
In his annual report, the Chief Justice notes that other branches of government are willing to help ensure the rule of law, even if the court’s decision is unpopular or represents a defeat for the presidential administration. Generally stated that the judgment needs to be carried out. Roberts pointed to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools as requiring federal enforcement in the face of resistance from southern governors.
Chief Justice John Roberts (left) and Associate Justice Samuel Alito (Javin Botts) pose for a group photo with other Supreme Court justices at the Supreme Court building at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, October 7, 2022, in Washington, DC. Ford)/The Washington Post, via Getty Images)
He also said that “attempts to intimidate judges over their decisions in cases are inappropriate and should be firmly opposed.”
Public servants and others have the right to criticize the ruling, but they should also recognize that what they say may “prompt dangerous reactions in others,” Roberts wrote.
Threats targeting federal judges have more than tripled in the past decade, according to U.S. Marshals Service statistics. Roberts wrote that state court judges in Wisconsin and Maryland were murdered in their homes in 2022 and 2023.
“Violence, intimidation and defiance directed at judges in the name of their office undermines our country and is completely unacceptable.”
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Roberts also noted that disinformation about court decisions threatens the independence of judges, and that social media is being exploited by “hostile foreign actors” to amplify distortions and exacerbate divisions. He said there is even a possibility that
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Daniel Wallace is a breaking news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and X: @danimwallace.
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