Analysis debunks John Roberts’ 'ridiculous' claim that 'far-right' SCOTUS has no 'political bias'

02 January

On the last day of 2024, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued his "2024 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary."

This was the 20th annual year-end report that Roberts has issued since being appointed chief justice by then-President George W. Bush in 2005. The High Court has changed a lot since that appointment 20 years ago, when it leaned conservative but didn't have the 6-3 GOP supermajority that it has now. And Roberts, in his report for 2024, was highly critical of "public officials" who have accused judges of showing a "political bias."

"Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary," Roberts wrote, "but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others."

In a biting article published on New Year's Day 2025, Rolling Stone's Andrew Perez argues that Roberts' comments sounded a lot like President-elect Donald Trump's rhetoric.

"Trump is so proud of the conservatives on the Court that he frequently praised the justices, individually by name, at 2024 campaign events — thanking them for their 'courage' in deciding to overturn Roe v. Wade, so states could ban abortion," Perez writes. "At a September rally, Trump called the conservative justices 'very brave' and argued that 'people should be put in jail' for criticizing them. The Supreme Court's chief justice, John Roberts, is now echoing Trump's demand that people stop criticizing him, his colleagues, and other federal jurists — while continuing to pretend that judges are not political."

Perez continues, "In his annual end-of-year report, issued on Tuesday, Roberts wrote that public officials (read: Democrats) '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.'"

The Rolling Stone journalist argues that it's "ridiculous" to deny that Supreme Court justices are "political appointees."

"In his first term as president," Perez observes, "Donald Trump built a conservative 6-3 supermajority on the Supreme Court. Ever since, the nation's highest court has repeatedly issued increasingly extreme, far-right decisions on topics of abortion, race, the environment, corruption, and much more."

Perez continues, "The Supreme Court has eliminated federal protections for abortion rights; limited the federal government's ability to regulate carbon emissions, protect Americans' drinking water, and limit ozone pollution; gutted federal agencies' ability to implement regulations generally; opened up long-standing regulations to new challenges; made it easier for states to enact racial gerrymanders; eliminated college affirmative action policies; found businesses can discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers; permitted public school employees to lead students in prayer; decided that companies can pay public officials gratuities, or thank-you payments, for corrupt contracting decisions; and broadly shielded Trump from criminal prosecution for any so-called official acts he committed as president…. Roberts and his colleagues were appointed to the Supreme Court to carry out a conservative political agenda — and that's exactly what they have done. No one should pretend otherwise."

Read the full Rolling Stone article at this link (subscription required).

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