US Chief Justice John Roberts stressed the importance of court security in his annual report released on Saturday, saying “the justice system cannot and should not be afraid.”
However, Roberts did not mention the threats federal judges have faced this year, including a man arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home and charged with attempted murder.
Instead, Roberts focused on events from 65 years ago, recounting how a federal district court judge was “physically threatened” for his role in school desegregation in Little Rock, Ark.
“The law requires every judge to take an oath to do their job without fear or favor, but we must support judges by ensuring their safety,” Roberts said in the nine-page report.
The annual report, which is not usually the place for major announcements, made no reference to a year of federal turmoil that included an unprecedented leak of the landmark Supreme Court majority opinion. Dobbs v. Jackson the case that ultimately overturned the constitutional right to abortion.
Roberts did not address the leak of the decision, which was written by Justice Samuel Alito, or provide an update on the subsequent investigation into what he called an unauthorized release.
Roberts ordered an investigation the day after the draft opinion was published by Politics, but the court has yet to provide a subsequent update. Speaking at a conference in Colorado Springs in September, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the court hopes to see a report on the leak soon.
The chief’s annual report comes at a time when public confidence in the judiciary is at an all-time low. A Gallup poll released in September found that only 47% of US adults have great or fair confidence in the judiciary. After the judgment was reversed Roe v. Wadeprotesters marched outside the conservative judge’s residence.
Criticism also came from the court’s liberal judges. Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in November that the court risks undermining the country’s faith in the legal system when it rushes to overturn its precedents, while Justice Elena Kagan has said the court should do a better job of finding common ground.
The closest Roberts came to addressing criticism of the court’s decision was when he noted, “The court’s opinion speaks for itself, and there is no obligation in our free country to agree with them.”
“Indeed, we judge that we often disagree—sometimes strongly—from the opinions of our colleagues, and we explain why in public writings about previous cases,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts thanked Congress for passing new court security measures to protect judges’ personal information online. He praised the courage of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, who upheld the legislation, after her son was killed in an attack at her New Jersey home.
The report notes that the court’s workload has decreased slightly this year. The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court decreased by 8%, from 5,307 filings in 2020 to 4,900 filings in 2021.
Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter examines how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Subscribe here.