Chief Justice John Roberts said disagreement with the Supreme Court’s decisions is “not a basis for criticizing the legitimacy of the court,” on Friday in his first public remarks since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“The Court has always decided controversial cases and decisions always have been subject to intense criticism and that is entirely appropriate,” Roberts said at a conference of judges and lawyers in Colorado Springs, per the Washington Post.
Roberts went on to say the Court is not guided by the political branches or public opinion.
“Yes, all of our opinions are open to criticism,” he said. “In fact, our members do a great job of criticizing some opinions from time to time.”
He added: “But simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for criticizing the legitimacy of the court.”
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Jaime Harrison was one of many Democrats to claim the Supreme Court is “illegitimate” in June after the Court overturned Roe.
Harrison responded to the Court’s decision in a tweet saying, “I’m overwhelmed with anger and pain. This illegitimate Supreme Court filled with political extremists just struck a blow to American freedom.”
While Harrison did not explain what makes the Court “illegitimate,” progressives have leveled the charge against the Court since Republicans refused to hold a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, who was former President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. GOP leaders argued then that it would not be in the interest of Americans to appoint a justice in an election year.
Democrats grew particularly incensed in 2020, when Republicans chose to move forward with confirmation hearings for Justice Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the presidential election.
Barrett’s confirmation created a 6–3 conservative majority on the Court.
While Pew Research Center polling shows Americans’ opinions on the Supreme Court are more politically polarized than at any point in more than 30 years of polling on the issue, Roberts said the high court must decide what the law is without being influenced by public opinion.
“That role doesn’t change simply because people disagree with this opinion or that opinion or with a particular mode of jurisprudence,” he said.
Roberts did not address the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, nor the majority draft opinion that was leaked one month before the official decision, according to the report.
He did discuss, however, how “it was gut-wrenching every morning to drive into a Supreme Court with barricades around it.”
The Court has been closed to the public since the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
Roberts said it was “unnatural” to hold oral arguments by teleconference or a smaller audience of court personnel and reporters and said the public will be allowed to attend oral arguments when the Court’s new term begins in October.
“I think just moving forward from things that were unfortunate is the best way to respond to it,” he said.