Roberts’ Rules for Defending Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law
On Monday, Chief Justice Roberts spoke at the Georgetown Law School> Among other things, the Chief repeated his concern about threats to the rule of law and judicial independence. From Politico’s report:
Chief Justice John Roberts described the rule of law as “endangered” and warned against “trashing the justices,” but speaking in Washington Monday he didn’t point fingers directly at President Donald Trump or his allies for publicly excoriating judges who’ve ruled against aspects of Trump’s agenda.
“The notion that rule of law governs is the basic proposition,” Roberts said during an appearance at Georgetown Law. “Certainly as a matter of theory, but also as a matter of practice, we need to stop and reflect every now and then how rare that is, certainly rare throughout history, and rare in the world today.”
While the Chief Justice may not have “point[ed] fingers” at President Trump or his allies in these remarks, the Chief Justice has responded to President Trump’s criticisms of federal judges and calls for impeachment. Indeed, contrary to Politico‘s suggestion, the Chief Justice has been rather consistent in calling out threats to judicial independence and the rule of law from all quarters–and in this he is the exception.
As I discuss in my latest Civitas Outlook piece, the Chief Justice has been consistent in his appeals to and defense of these principles, whereas most of his critics have not been.
Speaking in Buffalo on May 7, the Chief Justice reiterated his views, noting, “impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions.” As Roberts explained, judicial independence is “central” to the constitutional structure, adding that “the only real political science innovation in our constitution… is the establishment of an independent judiciary.” Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No.22 lamented that the
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