The Steady Drip: Chief Justice Defends Judicial Independence, Saying It's Under Threat (Connecting the Dots: Chief Justice John Roberts, The U.S. Supreme Court, The Smithsonian Institution, Nancy Pelosi, Jimmy Carter, The U.S. Department of Education, The Alfalfa Club, Phi Beta Kappa Society, The Belizean Grove, The Bohemian Club & Soros Funding, All Networking)

Chief Justice Defends Judicial Independence, Saying It's Under Threat (Connecting the Dots: Chief Justice John Roberts, The U.S. Supreme Court, The Smithsonian Institution, Nancy Pelosi, Jimmy Carter, The U.S. Department of Education, The Alfalfa Club, Phi Beta Kappa Society, The Belizean Grove, The Bohemian Club & Soros Funding, All Networking)

Newsmax.com

Thursday, 02 January 2025 04:56 PM EST

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts/2025/01/02/id/1193687/

Chief Justice John Roberts issued a defense Tuesday of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders.

Roberts laid out his concerns in his annual report on the federal judiciary. It was released after a year where the nation's court system was unusually enmeshed in a closely fought presidential race, with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump assailing the integrity of judges who ruled against him as he faced criminal charges for which he denied wrongdoing.

Trump won the race following a landmark immunity decision penned by Roberts that, along with another high court decision halting efforts to disqualify him from the ballot, removed obstacles to his election.

The immunity decision was criticized by Democrats like President Joe Biden, who later called for term limits and an enforceable ethics code following criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.

Roberts, for his part, introduced his letter by recounting a story about King George III stripping colonial judges of lifetime appointments, an order that was “not well received.”

Trump is now readying for a second term as president with an ambitious conservative agenda, elements of which are likely to be legally challenged and end up before the court whose conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump during his first term.

Roberts and Trump clashed in 2018 when the chief justice rebuked the president for denouncing a judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”

In 2020, Roberts criticized comments made by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer while the Supreme Court was considering a high-profile abortion case.

Roberts didn't mention Trump, Biden or any other specific leader in this year's annual report. Instead, he wrote generally that even if court decisions are unpopular or mark a defeat for a presidential administration, other branches of government must be willing to enforce them to ensure the rule of law.

He pointed to the Brown v. Board of Education decision that desegregated schools in 1954 as one that needed federal enforcement in the face of resistance from southern governors.

“It is not in the nature of judicial work to make everyone happy,” he wrote.

The chief justice also decried elected officials across the political spectrum who have “raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings.”

“Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” he wrote.

While public officials and others have the right to criticize rulings, they should also be aware that their statements can “prompt dangerous reactions by others.”

Threats targeting federal judges have more than tripled over the last decade, according to U.S. Marshals Service statistics. State court judges in Wisconsin and Maryland were killed at their homes in 2022 and 2023, Roberts wrote.

“Violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,” he wrote.

Roberts also pointed to disinformation about court rulings as a threat to judges’ independence, saying that social media can magnify distortions and even be exploited by “hostile foreign state actors” to exacerbate divisions.

Against a backdrop of those heightened divisions, Americans’ confidence in the country’s judicial system and courts has dropped to a record low of 35%, a Gallup poll found.

Connecting the Dots:

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Economic Club of Washington, is the president emeritus for the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA) and Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle.

John G. Roberts Jr. is an honorary member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), the chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution and the chief justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mike Pence is a regent for the Smithsonian Institution.

Joe Biden is a regent for the Smithsonian Institution and spent Thanksgiving with David M. Rubenstein.

David M. Rubenstein is a regent at the Smithsonian Institution, the president of the Economic Club of Washington, the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and spent Thanksgiving with Joe Biden.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Richard C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and married to Dianne Feinstein.

Dianne Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum, a U.S. Senate senator and a member of the Alfalfa Club.

Jeb Bush is a member of the Alfalfa Club and the chairman emeritus for the National Constitution Center.

Sandra Day O'Connor is the president of the Alfalfa Club, a trustee at the National Constitution Center and was an associate justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

George H.W. Bush was a member of the Alfalfa Club, the chairman emeritus for the National Constitution Center and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Stephen G. Breyer is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Elena Kagan is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Anthony M. Kennedy is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

David Hackett Souter is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harry A. Blackmun was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lewis F. Powell Jr. was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

John Paul Stevens was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

William Howard Taft was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the chief justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Byron R. White was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Potter Stewart was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sonia Sotomayor is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court and a member of the Belizean Grove.

Belizean_Grove is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.

George H.W. Bush was a member of the Bohemian Club, a member of the Alfalfa Club and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Jimmy Carter was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the president of the Jimmy Carter administration, an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise and in 1979 created the U.S. Department of Education.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Millennium Promise and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Henry A. Kissinger was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a member of the Bohemian Club.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Aspen Institute (think tank) and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

David M. Rubenstein was a benefactor at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Economic Club of Washington and a regent at the Smithsonian Institution.

Joyce Foundation was a funder for Achieve Inc. and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Michael Cohen is the president of Achieve Inc. and was an assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education.

Shirley M. Hufstedler was the secretary for the U.S. Department of Education and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Clare M. Munana is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and was a member of the Chicago (IL) Board of Education.

Penny S. Pritzker is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and was a member of the Chicago (IL) Board of Education.

Norman R. Bobins is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and was a member of the Chicago (IL) Board of Education.

David J. Vitale is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was the president of the president of the Chicago (IL) Board of Education and the chief administrative officer for the Chicago Public Schools.

Arne S. Duncan was the superintendent for the Chicago Public Schools and is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Education for the Barack Obama administration

Valerie B. Jarrett was the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration a director at the Joyce Foundation, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Joyce Foundation was a funder for Achieve Inc. and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Achieve Inc. helped develop the Common Core educational standards.

Michael Cohen is the president of Achieve Inc. and was an assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education.

Shirley M. Hufstedler was the secretary for the U.S. Department of Education and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

David H. Koch is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and the EVP for Koch Industries.

Koch Industries is the sponsor for the Koch Industries annual conference.

Clarence Thomas was a guest at the Koch Industries annual conference, an assistant secretary for civil rights for the U.S. Department of Education, Stephen F. Smith was his clerk and is a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jimmy Carter created the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, was the president of the Jimmy Carter administration, an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for Millennium Promise and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Richard C. Blum was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and married to Dianne Feinstein.

Dianne Feinstein was married to Richard C. Blum, a U.S. Senate senator and a member of the Alfalfa Club.

George H.W. Bush was a member of the Alfalfa Club, a member of the Bohemian Club and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Jimmy Carter a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, created the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, was the president of the Jimmy Carter administration and an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise.