Supreme Court chief justice pinpoints what Americans misunderstand about he and his colleagues
Political critics of Supreme Court decisions fundamentally do not understand the role of the institution, according to Chief Justice John Roberts.It is to interpret the law, not make it, he...
By Fox News · Fox News
Political critics of Supreme Court decisions fundamentally do not understand the role of the institution, according to Chief Justice John Roberts. It is to interpret the law , not make it, he told a judicial conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "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," Roberts said Wednesday night. "I think they view us as purely political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do." The decision reviewing the unconstitutionality of race-based gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act has resurfaced rebukes of the political ideology of the Court. Three conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, were placed on the bench by President Donald Trump during his first term, giving Republican-nominated justices a 6-3 majority. BARRETT SAYS JUSTICES 'WEAR BLACK, NOT RED OR BLUE' IN RESPONSE TO PARTISAN CRITICS IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW Justices, however, are making decisions based on the law and contextual readings of the Constitution, not their personal policy preferences, Roberts stressed to the conference of judges and lawyers from the 3rd U.S. Circuit in Pennsylvania. "I think considered criticism is a very good thing," Roberts said. "You hope it’s intelligent criticism, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a free country and I certainly don’t object to it, and I don’t think my colleagues do either ." FOX NEWS POLL: APPROVAL OF SCOTUS AT 5-YEAR HIGH, REBOUNDING FROM RECORD LOW IN 2024 The Supreme Court has also expanded gun rights and overturned the constitutional right to abortion in recent years. Public confidence in the Supreme Court was at a low of 40% after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization abortion ruling, showing the politics of rulings determines perception as the words of the Constitution remain unchanged. The rulings are "based on our best effort to…