John Roberts Bemoans Americans for Viewing SCOTUS Justices as “Political Actors”

On Wednesday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts defended the purported integrity of the high court, bemoaning what he claimed to be a misunderstanding by the American people of how the institution is meant to function.

Roberts, who was speaking at a legal conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania, said that too many Americans view the justices as “political actors.”

“I think at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, [that] we’re saying we think this is what things should be, as opposed to this is what the law provides,” Roberts said, adding that some people lack “an accurate understanding of what we do.”

“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 complained.

The chief justice’s grievance places the blame for the court’s negative approval ratings directly on the American people. However, Roberts failed to address concerns Americans have expressed regarding the court’s overturn of long-held precedents (such as Roe v. Wade) and its rulings with deeply political overtones (including ruling to allow state legislatures to engage in partisan gerrymandering). Indeed, Roberts’s words came just a week after the high court upended enforcement mechanisms for the Voting Rights Act, a move that rendered the law “toothless,” many legal experts have said.

Members of the Supreme Court have also shown flagrant disregard for ethics standards, with justices receiving — and failing to publicly report — millions of dollars in gifts from wealthy individuals who have high stakes in how the court may rule on key cases. Earlier this month, the six conservative bloc justices also attended a White House dinner, an action that could be viewed by some as blatantly political.

However, Roberts is correct to note that Americans are upset with the Supreme Court. A recent Marquette University Law School poll finds that 57 percent of Americans disapprove of the court’s performance, while only 42 percent approve.

Those numbers are a huge reversal from how the American people viewed the court only six years ago. Per Gallup polling at the time, 58 percent of respondents said they approved of the Supreme Court’s work. And at the start of the 21st century, 62 percent said they viewed the court favorably.

Americans’ increasingly negative views of the court have led to widespread support for reforms, including term limits for justices.

Earlier this month, Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-Maryland) introduced a bill that would restrict justices from serving beyond 18-year terms. In describing the need for the proposal, Olszewski cited a disturbing trend of recent court rulings, as well as concerning actions by justices themselves, calling into question their impartiality.

“Faith in the court depends on its legitimacy as a fair and independent institution. Recent rulings that have thrown out decades of legal precedent, combined with ethically dubious behavior by sitting judges, are testing that faith,” Olszewski remarked.