Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts released his annual report Thursday, calling for “all Americans to appreciate this inheritance from our founding generation and cherish its endurance.”
"It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy. Most cases have a winner and a loser. Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system—sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics," he said.
"Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed, and the Nation has avoided the standoffs that plagued the 1950s and 1960s,” Roberts continued. “Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected. Judicial independence is worth preserving.”
A cartoon by Ruben Bolling
This comes as the Supreme Court has been shrouded in secrecy, corruption, and political bias—instigating particularly the ire of Democrats.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top two ranking Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Roberts over “renewed concern about Justice Samuel Alito’s apparent refusal to abide by the Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct or constitutional and statutory guarantees that impartial judges hear cases.”
The country’s trust in the Supreme Court fell to its lowest point in 50 years after it overturned Roe v. Wade, and it doesn’t seem to be bouncing back. In particular, women no longer have the respect of the institution that they once held.
Among the Supreme Court’s laundry list of corruption is Justice Samuel Alito’s acceptance of luxury trips from billionaires, and—shortly before the court’s ruling that Trump has broad immunity for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection—Alito’s wife Martha-Ann’s flying of a far-right flag in support of insurrectionists.
It’s also been reported that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted lavish gifts, real estate deals, and vacations from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow for two decades. Meanwhile, his wife Ginni praised a group that opposed Supreme Court reform.
A cartoon by Mike Luckovich
Roberts has previously refused to answer questions from the Senate regarding how his justices' actions have potentially damaged the institution, raising doubts about Americans' ability to trust the court’s objectivity.
The nation’s highest court faces a critical moment in history as the actions of several justices have raised fundamental questions about its integrity and impartiality.
“As my late colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, an independent judiciary is ‘essential to the rule of law in any land,’” Roberts said in his report. “Yet it ‘is vulnerable to assault; it can be shattered if the society law exists to serve does not take care to assure its preservation.’”
With increasing public scrutiny, reported conflicts of interest, and political polarization, the court’s credibility is at risk—eroding the public’s faith in the judiciary and, ultimately, undermining democracy.
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