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Political critics of Supreme Court decisions fundamentally do not understand the role of the institution, according to Chief Justice John Roberts.
It is to interpret the law, not make it, he told a judicial conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
“I think, at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, we’re saying we think this is how things should be, as opposed to what the law provides,” Roberts said Wednesday night. “I think they view us as purely political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do.”
The decision reviewing the unconstitutionality of race-based gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act has resurfaced rebukes of the political ideology of the Court. Three conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, were placed on the bench by President Donald Trump during his first term, giving Republican-nominated justices a 6-3 majority.
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Justices, however, are making decisions based on the law and contextual readings of the Constitution, not their personal policy preferences, Roberts stressed to the conference of judges and lawyers from the 3rd U.S. Circuit in Pennsylvania.
“I think considered criticism is a very good thing,” Roberts said. “You hope it’s intelligent criticism, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a free country and I certainly don’t object to it, and I don’t think my colleagues do either.”
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The Supreme Court has also expanded gun rights and overturned the constitutional right to abortion in recent years. Public confidence in the Supreme Court was at a low of 40% after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion ruling, showing the politics of rulings determines perception as the words of the Constitution remain unchanged.
The rulings are “based on our best effort to figure out what the Constitution means and how it applies” to the existing law, Roberts said.
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“We’re not simply part of the political process, and there’s a reason for that, and I’m not sure people grasp that as much as is appropriate,” Roberts said, stressing that “one thing we have to do is make decisions that are unpopular.”
“On the other hand,” Roberts said, “there is a point where it changes from criticism of the opinion to criticism of the judge and it can lead to some very serious problems.”
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Heated political rhetoric, potentially fueled by violent protest groups, can endanger judges.
In June 2022, an armed suspect was caught outside Kavanaugh’s home. Nicholas John Roske pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 97 months in prison and lifetime supervised release after admitting to the attempted assassination.
“There’s a lot of hostility that’s publicized about judicial decisions and which judge wrote those decisions,” Roberts warned. “I think we have to be a little more careful and make sure people, to the extent you can, are more careful about that.”
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Judges bowing to the pressures of political ideology from the American public would have devastating effects, according to Roberts.
“If you do it cavalierly, overrule precedent just because you think it’s wrong, then the whole system begins to suffer,” he said.
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The advanced ages of Thomas and Alito have raised questions of whether they might consider retirement either before the midterms — which could change Congress’ ability to get through another conservative justice nominee under Trump — or before 2028, where a flip of the White House and/or Congress could shift the court back away from a conservative majority.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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