Chief Justice John Roberts dodges contentious issues in year-end message to judiciary
- - Chief Justice John Roberts dodges contentious issues in year-end message to judiciary
Lawrence HurleyJanuary 1, 2026 at 7:00 AM
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Chief Justice John Roberts released his annual end-of-year report on New Year's Eve. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts scrupulously avoided touching on contentious issues facing judges at a time of widespread discord within the federal judiciary in his annual end-of-year report Wednesday.
Roberts' seven-page statement focused mostly on the history of the Declaration of Independence even as judges have faced harsh criticism this year for ruling against Trump administration policies amid a period of rising violent threats.
Addressing his colleagues in the judiciary, Roberts said it is the duty of everyone in government to live up to the ideals of the 1776 declaration that paved the way to American independence and expressed confidence in the sturdiness of the Constitution.
“Those of us in the Third Branch must continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution,” he wrote.
Roberts, who earlier in the year pushed back on President Donald Trump over a call to impeach judges simply for ruling against him, did not directly address that issue or the threats that have prompted some judges to change their daily lives.
Judges have also criticized Roberts and the court as a whole for not doing enough to defend them.
Roberts did address threats and other challenges facing judges in his 2024 report, issued before Trump took office.
In his latest report, Roberts did make some oblique references to topics of particular salience in 2025. He noted, for example the importance of judicial independence, citing the Declaration of Independence's mention of how Great Britain's King George III exercised too much control over the judiciary.
"The Constitution corrected this flaw, granting life-tenure and salary protections to safeguard the independence of federal judges and ensure their ability to serve as a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches," Roberts wrote. "This arrangement, now in place for 236 years, has served the country well."
Roberts also remarked that an early attempt to impeach a Supreme Court justice, Samuel Chase, failed in the Senate because "many senators concluded that disapproval of a judge's decisions provided an invalid basis for removal from office."
The Supreme Court will issue a series of rulings on contentious Trump policies in the coming months, including his sweeping tariffs and his attempt to end automatic birthright citizenship.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
