Funviralpark WASHINGTON (AP) — Security threats to Supreme Court justices are still fresh in our minds, so Chief Justice John Roberts praised programs to protect judges on Saturday, calling it “a way to keep judges safe. We have to support the judge,” he said.
Roberts and Other Conservative Supreme Courts The judge was the subject of a protest at his home after a May leak. On Court Decisions That Ultimately Stripped Constitutional Protections for AbortionJudge Samuel Alito said the leak made the conservative judge “a target for assassination.” And in June, a man with a gun, knife and zip ties was arrested near the home of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. After threatening to kill the judge, the judge’s vote was key to overturning the court’s Roe v. Wade decision.
Roberts in his annual report As for federal justice, he didn’t specifically mention the abortion decision, but the incident and the reaction to it clearly seemed to have crossed his mind.
“Judicial opinions speak for themselves, and our free nation is under no obligation to agree with them. Indeed, we often, and sometimes strongly, disagree with the opinions of our colleagues. and has explained why in a public document about the incident at hand,” Roberts wrote.
Public opinion polls after abortion decisions show historically low public trust in courts.Elena Cagan, two of Roberts’ liberal colleagues who challenged his abortion case and Sonia Sotomayor said the court should worry about overturning precedent and appearing political.
After leaks and threats to Kavanaugh, lawmakers passed legislation to tighten security protections For judges and their families. Separately, in December, lawmakers passed a law protecting personal information, including addresses, in federal judges.
The law is named after the son of 20-year-old U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered in her family’s home in New Jersey by a man who had previously filed a lawsuit..
Roberts thanked lawmakers for “responding to the need for judicial security.” And he said a program to protect judges is “essential to the operation of the court system.”
Writing on judicial security, Roberts told the story of Judge Ronald N. Davis, who in September 1957 ordered the consolidation of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Davis’ decision followed the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional and overruled Arkansas Governor Orval Forbath’s attempt to stop school consolidation.
Davis was “physically threatened for complying with the law,” but the judge was “cowardly,” Roberts said.
“The judicial system cannot and should not live in fear.
Roberts said officials are currently working to recreate the courtroom Davis presided over in 1957. Roberts said the judge’s bench Davis used and other artifacts from the courtroom have been preserved. and will be set up in a recreated courtroom in the Federal Court of Little.
But before that happens, the Judge’s Bench will be on display as part of the Supreme Court exhibit for several years starting in the fall.
“This exhibit will introduce visitors to how the federal court system works, the history of segregation and desegregation in our country, and Thurgood Marshall’s significant contributions as an advocate.” Marshall, who argued Brown v. the Board of Education, became the first black justice on the Supreme Court in 1967.
The Supreme Court continues to grapple with complex race issues. Two of his cases this term deal with affirmative action.and a conservative majority in courts are expected to use them to overturn decades-old decisions that allowed universities to take race into consideration in admissions. In the case, the judge could undermine the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.the civil rights crown.
Judges will hear the first arguments for 2023 on January 9.
