The Political Wars Damage Public Perception of Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts Says

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said late Wednesday that partisan extremism is damaging the public’s perception of the role of the Supreme Court, recasting the justices as players in the political process rather than its referees.

Divisive battles over confirmations and mischaracterization of the merits of the court’s decisions worry him, Roberts told a ballroom crowd of about 1,000 people at a celebration of Law Day at New England Law-Boston, a private law school.

Criticism of the court “doesn’t bother me at all,” Roberts said, as long as it is not based on a misunderstanding of how the court differs from the political branches . . .

The court is under heavy criticism from all sides in the presidential campaigns, with Republican Donald Trump suggesting he would appoint justices who would overturn the court’s 5-to-4 decision saying gay couples have a constitutional right to marry and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders making a rejection of the court’s Citizen United campaign finance decision a litmus test for their potential nominees. (Read more from “The Political Wars Damage Public Perception of Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts Says” HERE)

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