The attacks on the United States Supreme Court have increased in recent years. There’s no sign of them stopping anytime soon.
As a conservative Supreme Court justice was attacked in the latest security breach.
Chief Justice John Roberts has found himself in the crosshairs of the latest round of Supreme Court leaks, sparking debate and criticism from Leftist commentators.
At the heart of the controversy is Roberts’s reported push to build consensus among his fellow justices on key cases involving former President Donald Trump.
According to the New York Times, Roberts sent a confidential memo to his colleagues last February, criticizing a lower appeals court for failing to address “the most difficult questions” in Trump’s case seeking presidential immunity related to the 2020 election subversion indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
This memo reveals Roberts’s deep involvement in shaping decisions on high-profile Trump-related cases, which has attracted a wave of scrutiny.
The New York Times article shed light on Roberts’s efforts to seek unanimity in three particular cases: an attempt to disqualify Trump from running under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, the presidential immunity case, and a lawsuit addressing the use of an obstruction statute by the Biden Justice Department in relation to the January 6 riot.
In Trump v. Anderson, the Supreme Court delivered a 9-0 ruling, allowing Trump to remain on the ballot in all 50 states, though the justices had varied reasons for their conclusions.
Another key ruling in Trump v. United States established a 6-3 majority, recognizing that sitting and former presidents are entitled to some level of immunity from criminal indictments. A similar 6-3 ruling was made in Fischer v. United States, narrowing the interpretation of the obstruction statute for January 6 defendants.
What stood out in these rulings was the surprising alignment of justices. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s appointee, joined her Republican-appointed colleagues in a ruling about the January 6 cases, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by Trump, joined the Democratic-appointed justices in dissent. Only the immunity case saw a conventional ideological split among the justices.
The leak of Roberts’s memo has intensified concerns over the Supreme Court’s internal deliberations, which are usually highly confidential.
Commentators have criticized the leak for exposing vulnerabilities within the court. Nicholas Grossman, a political science professor, shared his disapproval online, calling Roberts’s position “delusional” after the New York Times noted the chief justice’s reliance on Alexander Hamilton’s idea that court arguments would rise above politics and “stand the test of time.”
However, Roberts’s defenders have also emerged. Mark Paoletta, a close ally of Justice Clarence Thomas, pointed to historical precedents, noting that former Chief Justice Earl Warren was lauded for securing consensus in Brown v. Board of Education.
Paoletta commended Roberts’s leadership, particularly in securing the 9-0 decision in Trump v. Anderson that rejected efforts to bar Trump from the ballot.
Despite such defenses, the Supreme Court has faced increasing scrutiny from Democrats since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in 2022.
Paoletta went further, accusing the Left of orchestrating these leaks because of dissatisfaction with recent rulings. He warned that these leaks reflect a broader effort by liberals to discredit the court amid rising frustrations.
Roberts’s leadership had not always drawn the ire of liberal critics. Even during the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Roberts avoided much of the backlash because he did not endorse Justice Samuel Alito’s sweeping majority opinion.
However, mounting allegations of so-called ethical concerns—especially related to Justices Thomas and Alito—have shifted some of the spotlight onto Roberts, particularly in light of his wife Jane Roberts’s legal career, which has drawn comparisons to past justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Some see these ethical criticisms as part of a broader effort by the Left to undermine the court’s conservative bloc.
As the Supreme Court grapples with this era of unprecedented leaks and public scrutiny, the radical Left looks to pounce on the nation’s high Court in an effort to undercut them at every chance possible.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
