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Chief Justice John Roberts said Supreme Court justices are not “political actors,” arguing that the court’s work comes from the law rather than from politics. Speaking Wednesday at a judges-and-lawyers conference for the 3rd U.S. Circuit in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Roberts said people often mischaracterize what the court does when unpopular decisions follow.
Roberts’ comments focused on how the public views the judiciary, particularly the idea that justices are making policy choices. “I think, at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, we’re saying we think this is how things should be, as opposed to what the law provides,” he said, adding that he viewed that perception as inaccurate.
Roberts said the court is “simply not part of the political process.” He said disagreements can occur over outcomes, but he characterized the court’s task as basing decisions on the Constitution.
He also urged restraint in how critics respond to court rulings. Roberts condemned personal targeting of judges and said criticism should focus on decisions rather than attacks on individuals, saying, “That’s not appropriate and it can lead to very serious problems.”
The conference remarks came at a time when public confidence in the Supreme Court has been low, and they followed a recent decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act. In that ruling, the Supreme Court struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, finding it was an unconstitutional gerrymander based on race.
The decision weakened a Civil Rights era law that, according to the Associated Press account, has helped increase minority representation in Congress. The ruling also opened the door for more redistricting elsewhere, a change that the AP reported could benefit Republican efforts to control the House.
In his remarks, Roberts did not refer to any specific Supreme Court decision. But the timing placed his statements against a broader backdrop of the court’s recent rulings described by the AP as overturning constitutional and civil-rights precedents, including decisions affecting abortion, gun rights, and affirmative action in higher education.
Roberts’ comments also arrived amid high-profile public criticism of judges in personal terms. The AP reported that Republican President Donald Trump has targeted Roberts and other justices, including in connection with a Supreme Court ruling that struck down tariffs Trump had levied under an emergency-powers law.