{"id":1640721,"date":"2022-09-14T07:35:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T11:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1640721"},"modified":"2022-09-14T07:36:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T11:36:32","slug":"for-lack-of-public-confidence-in-the-supreme-court-john-roberts-has-only-himself-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/for-lack-of-public-confidence-in-the-supreme-court-john-roberts-has-only-himself-to-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"For Lack Of Public Confidence In The Supreme Court, John Roberts Has Only Himself To Blame"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffor-lack-of-public-confidence-in-the-supreme-court-john-roberts-has-only-himself-to-blame%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1640721&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is back in the public spotlight and his latest remarks on judicial integrity are turning heads.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing at the 10th Circuit Bench and Bar Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Friday, the chief justice spoke about the perceived credibility of the Supreme Court among the American public and how disagreeing with its opinions \u201cis not a basis for questioning [its] legitimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe court has always decided controversial cases and decisions have always been subject to intense criticism, and that is entirely appropriate,\u201d Roberts <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/09\/10\/chief-justice-john-roberts-defends-supreme-court-legitimacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>. \u201cBut I don\u2019t understand the connection between the opinions people disagree with and the\u00a0legitimacy of the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the Supreme Court\u2019s rulings on several hot-button issues this past session, such as the striking down of <em>Roe v. Wade <\/em>and upholding of Second Amendment rights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/meetthepressblog\/vp-harris-attacks-activist-court-says-loss-rights-post-roe-led-sufferi-rcna47072\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats<\/a> and their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/jennifer-rubin-claims-tone-deaf-supreme-court-destroyed-own-integrity-calls-court-packing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sycophants in legacy media<\/a> have been quick to vilify the high court and call into question its ability to operate as an independent body simply because a majority of justices didn\u2019t give them the outcomes they wanted. While it\u2019s fair for Roberts to push back against such logic and distinguish the legitimacy of the high court from its judicial decisions, his next comments were impossible to take seriously. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the court doesn\u2019t retain its legitimate function of interpreting the Constitution, I\u2019m not sure who would take up that mantle,\u201d the chief justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/chief-justice-john-roberts-says-barricaded-supreme-court-was-gut-wrenching-to-see\/ar-AA11Gi3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t want the political branches telling you what the law is, and you don\u2019t want public opinion to be the guide about what the appropriate decision is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For someone who holds the rank of chief justice, the lack of self-awareness from Roberts is stunning. Throughout his tenure on the Supreme Court, Roberts\u2019s judicial decision-making on various high-profile cases has been guided by \u201cpublic opinion.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>When the court was considering the constitutionality of Obamacare in the 2012 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/11pdf\/11-393c3a2.pdf\">NFIB v. Sebelius<\/a><\/em> case, for instance, Roberts reportedly took extensive actions behind the scenes to alter the Supreme Court\u2019s final decision on the matter, even though Obamacare is obviously unconstitutional. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2019\/03\/john-roberts-biography-review\/580453\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initially<\/a> siding with his Republican-appointed colleagues in striking down the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) \u201con the grounds that it went beyond Congress\u2019s power to regulate interstate commerce,\u201d Roberts got cold feet over fears of potential public blowback over the high court\u2019s impending decision and worked with his Democrat-appointed colleagues to change it. <\/p>\n<p>As reported by SCOTUS biographer Joan Biskupic in her book, \u201cThe Chief,\u201d Roberts\u2019s bid to play politics led him to form a deal with leftist Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan that upheld and struck down certain portions of the ACA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter trying unsuccessfully to find a middle way with [Justice Anthony] Kennedy, who was \u2018unusually firm\u2019 and even \u2018put off\u2019 by the courtship, Roberts turned to the Court\u2019s two moderate liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan,\u201d a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2019\/03\/john-roberts-biography-review\/580453\/\">review<\/a>\u00a0of \u201cThe Chief\u201d published in The Atlantic reads. \u201cThe threesome negotiated a compromise decision that upheld the ACA\u2019s individual mandate under Congress\u2019s taxing power, while striking down the Medicaid expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biskupic\u2019s reporting echoes findings released by CBS News\u2019 Jan Crawford. She in 2012 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/roberts-switched-views-to-uphold-health-care-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that \u201cRoberts pays attention to media coverage\u201d and that \u201c[a]s chief justice, he is keenly aware of his leadership role on the court\u201d and \u201cis sensitive to how the court is perceived by the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In spite of his efforts to maintain the court\u2019s favorability as measured by often-biased poll results, Roberts\u2019s games in the <em>NFIB v. Sebelius<\/em> case did the exact opposite. As detailed in their bestselling book, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Justice-Trial-Kavanaugh-Confirmation-Supreme\/dp\/1621579832\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court<\/a>,\u201d Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway and President of the Judicial Crisis Network Carrie Severino detail how \u201cPew [Research] reported that after the decision the Court remained at its all-time-low 52 percent approval.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe accepted narrative, even among those who welcomed the chief\u2019s decision, was that he changed his legal position not on principle but in response to public pressure,\u201d Hemingway and Severino write. \u201cThe right lost respect for him, and the decision won him no friends on the left, which still portrays him as unforgivably conservative and a craven political operative. It was a regrettable outcome for anyone concerned about the legitimacy of the Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts\u2019s deference to the consistently changing and poll-manipulated opinions of the American public at the expense of upholding the Constitution didn\u2019t stop at the Obamacare ruling, either. Over the years, Roberts has routinely abandoned originalism for political activism, with the court\u2019s 2022 <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em> decision striking down <em>Roe<\/em>\u2018s made-up \u201cconstitutional right\u201d to an abortion serving as a more recent example.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett all correctly maintaining that the precedent established in <em>Roe<\/em> was unconstitutional garbage, Roberts attempted \u2014 yet again \u2014 to play politician and convince one of his Republican-appointed colleagues to change his or her vote before the opinion was released. Originally reported by The Washington Post and later Biskupic, Roberts directed his lobbying to save Roe toward justices including Brett Kavanaugh, which \u201ccontinued through the final weeks of the [2021-2022] session.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMultiple sources told CNN that Roberts\u2019 overtures this spring, particularly to Kavanaugh, raised fears among conservatives and hope among liberals that the chief could change the outcome in the most closely watched case in decades,\u201d Biskupic writes. \u201cOnce the draft was published by Politico, conservatives pressed their colleagues to try to hasten release of the final decision, lest anything suddenly threaten their majority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report went on to detail how the abrupt May leak of the Supreme Court\u2019s majority draft opinion in <em>Dobbs<\/em> \u201cthwarted\u201d Roberts\u2019 efforts, with Biskupic noting how the chief justice \u201ccan usually work in private, seeking and offering concessions, without anyone beyond the court knowing how he or other individual justices have voted or what they may be writing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the final opinion, Roberts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/jun\/24\/roberts-strikes-own-path-abortion-ruling-dobbs-roe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ultimately<\/a> sided with the leftist justices of the court in upholding <em>Roe<\/em>, while also voting with his Republican-appointed colleagues to uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion law as constitutional.<\/p>\n<p>Whether he wants to admit it to himself or not, a decline in public confidence in the Supreme Court isn\u2019t due to any originalist rulings, but to Roberts\u2019s political activism. The role of a judge is \u2014 and always has been \u2014 to apply the Constitution as it was originally written by the Founders; not manipulate the law to satisfy some personal desire for public approval. <\/p>\n<p>In abdicating his responsibility as a justice, Roberts has given the country every reason to be skeptical of the court\u2019s ability to operate freely from the politics that plague America\u2019s societal discourse. If the chief justice had any interest in ensuring the future of the Supreme Court\u2019s legitimacy, he would quit acting like Mitch McConnell in a robe and start behaving like the judge he was appointed to be.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is back in the public spotlight and his latest remarks on judicial integrity are turning heads. Appearing at the 10th Circuit Bench and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":1640724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1640721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1640724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1640721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1640721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}