Source: news.yahoo.com 9/10/22
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday defended the authority of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution, saying its role should not be called into question just because people disagree with its decisions.
When asked to reflect on the last year at the court in his first public appearance since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Roberts said he was concerned that lately some critics of the court’s controversial decisions have questioned the legitimacy of the court, which he said was a mistake. He did not mention any specific cases or critics by name.
“If the court doesn’t retain its legitimate function of interpreting the constitution, I’m not sure who would take up that mantle. You don’t want the political branches telling you what the law is, and you don’t want public opinion to be the guide about what the appropriate decision is,” Roberts said while being interviewed by two judges from the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at its conference in Colorado Springs.
Roberts described the last year as an unusual and difficult one, pointing to the public not be allowed inside the court, closed in 2020 because of the pandemic, as one hardship. He also said it was “gut wrenching” to drive into the Supreme Court that was surrounded by barricades every day.
The Supreme Court of the United States needs a Code of Ethics.
I agree.We may not always agree with SCOTUS, but they are what is keeping, at least right now, the Executive and Legislative branches of the government from overstepping their powers which they are attempting to do
One of our own US Presidents said .’The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it ‘
Woodrow Wilson
Does Chief Justice Roberts understand *why* so many people feel his court is felt to be illegitimate by so many people? Did Roberts really read Justice Alito’s opinion in the Dobbs decision? I did. Could not see just how obvious it was that Alito had long ago made up his mind about the morality of abortion and carefully crafted legal arguments to fit his moral view? That is not justice. Does Roberts not see just now partisan his court has become and how political views are more important than actual jurisprudence? Does Roberts not see the obvious corruption that exists in his court, particularly in the cases of Justices Thomas and Alito?
As per the article, Roberts is quoted as saying: “You don’t want the political branches telling you what the law is…”.
I think the Chief is somewhat misguided here. The ‘political branches’ are constitutionally mandated to write “the law”, each and every one of them. If the legislature cannot articulate the meaning of that which they author, then why does the USSC think that they are better positioned to do so? Yes, the USSC reviews the law to determine constitutional infirmities and conflicts, or lack thereof, but they must rely upon the Congressional record (where comments articulated by legislators are memorialized) should they seek to determine the “meaning” of the law. That’s like telling Shakespeare to sit down and shut up while the USSC explains to everyone else as to the meaning of the author’s words in ‘Richard III’ and ‘Hamlet’.
I agree with Roberts, but on the same hand, if decades go by and a past ruling was based on very outdated sources, then shouldn’t it be reviewed? His infamous quote that registration is no more of a burden than getting a Price Club card may have had merit when you could do it by mail and there was no internet. But now that statement is so ignorant, misinformed., tone def, and insulting that if he were to look into it i would think he would feel embarrassed.