WASHINGTON (AP) — With threats to the safety of Supreme Court justices still fresh in the air, Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday praised a plan to protect judges, saying “we must Support them.”
roberts and other conservative supreme court Judges targeted for protests after May leaks, some at home Court decision finally strips constitutional protection of abortion. Justice Samuel Alito has said the leaks have made conservative justices “targets for assassination.” In June, a man armed with a gun, knife and tie was arrested near Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s home The judge’s vote was key to overturning the court’s Roe v. Wade decision after threatening to kill him.
Roberts writes in annual end-of-year report With regard to the federal judiciary, he didn’t specifically mention the abortion decision, but the case and the reaction to it seemed to be crystal clear in his mind.
“Judicial opinions speak for themselves, and we as free nations are under no obligation to agree to them. In fact, our judges often disagree—sometimes vehemently—with the opinions of our colleagues, which we explain in our public writings on the cases before us reasons,” Roberts wrote.
Polls after the abortion decision show public trust in the courts is at an all-time low.Two of Roberts’ Liberal Colleagues Dissent in Abortion Case, Justice Elena Kagan Courts need to focus on overturning precedent and emerging political issues, said Sonia Sotomayor.
After leaks and threats against Kavanaugh, lawmakers pass legislation to increase security protections For the judges and their families. Separately, in December, lawmakers passed legislation protecting the personal information of federal judges, including their addresses.
The law is named for Daniel Anderl, 20, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, who was killed in his New Jersey home by a man with a previous case kill.
Roberts thanked members of Congress who “are meeting judicial security needs.” The plan to protect judges is “critical to running the court system,” he said.
Writing about judicial security, Roberts tells the story of Judge Ronald N. Davies, who ordered the consolidation of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in September 1957. Davis’ decision came after the Supreme Court, Brown v. Board of Education, ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional and rejected an attempt by Arkansas Gov. Oval Forbes to block school integration.
Davis “had received physical threats for complying with the law,” but the judge “didn’t flinch,” Roberts said.
“The justice system cannot and should not live in fear. What happened in Little Rock taught us the importance of the rule of law, not mob rule,” he wrote.
Roberts noted that officials are currently working to replicate the court that Davis presided over in 1957. The bench used by Davis and other artifacts of the courtroom have been preserved and will be installed in Little Federal Courthouse’s reconstructed courtroom rock “so that these important artifacts will once again be used to hold the courtroom,” Roberts said.
Before that, however, the bench will be on display as part of the Supreme Court exhibit starting in the fall and continuing for several years, he said.
“The exhibit will educate visitors about how the federal court system worked, the history of segregation and desegregation in our nation, and the outstanding service of Thurgood Marshall as an advocate,” Roberts said. Marshall, who defended Brown v. Board of Education, became the first black justice on the Supreme Court in 1967.
The Supreme Court is still grappling with complex issues involving race.Two cases this semester involved affirmative action, and the court’s conservative majority is expected to use them to overturn decades-old decisions that allow colleges to consider race in admissions.In another scenario, justices could weaken the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965the crown jewel of the civil rights movement.
The justices will hear their first arguments of 2023 on Jan. 9.
