The Chief Justice’s year-end report continues to confound. Roberts wrote “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.” Who was he talking about?
Ruth Marcus thinks it was J.D. Vance. As Marcus tells it, Roberts took a swipe at the incoming Vice President. Is Roberts that dense? But in my view, Vance’s full interview on the podcast reflects a sophisticated understanding of the limits of judicial supremacy. Ed Whelan made similar points.
A reader suggested that Roberts may have been talking about the 46 Democratic senators who recently signed a letter urging Biden to order the archivist to publish the ERA and recognize it as officially ratified. This move would be in defiance of several federal court rulings, as Ed Whelan also explained here and here. Was Roberts talking about nearly the entire Democratic membership in the United States? Could Roberts be so dense?
Who was Roberts talking about? None of us have any clue. We are only left to speculate. And that is a problem. The Chief Justice of the United States took a swipe at unnamed members of the coordinate branch of government, leaving people to attack politicians like the incoming Vice President and Senators with the imprimatur of the Chief Justice. Roberts tried to stay out of politics, but in the process, unduly injected the Court into politics. Sound familiar? Time and again, whenever Roberts tries to “depoliticize” the Court, he ends up making the Court more political. This episode teaches, once again, why Judges should simply stay out of politics, and politicized-judging.
Be a judge, and let the political chips fall where they may. I hope Roberts learns this lesson, and doesn’t try to pick-and-choose which Trump actions deserve lectures. If you want to focus on fixing institutions, start at home. STOP THE LEAKS.
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