Chief Justice John Roberts has emerged from his ivory tower with a familiar plea for Americans to show more "respect" for the judiciary and tone down criticism of judges. The timing couldn't be more telling – or more hypocritical.
Roberts' paternal lecture about "decorum" rings hollow when you consider the Supreme Court's recent history of liberal judicial activism that fundamentally transformed American society without a single vote from We the People. Where was this concern for institutional respect when his own court was rewriting the Constitution from the bench?
For decades, activist judges – many appointed by Democrats – have legislated from the bench, imposing their radical agenda on everything from marriage to healthcare to religious liberty. They've ignored the clear text of the Constitution, created rights out of thin air, and treated the American people's elected representatives as mere suggestions to be overruled.
Selective Concern for 'Institutional Integrity'
Roberts seems particularly concerned about maintaining the court's reputation now that conservative justices finally have a majority. How convenient. When liberal justices were rubber-stamping Obama's unconstitutional power grabs and inventing new constitutional "rights" every term, we didn't hear much hand-wringing about judicial overreach.
"The American people have every right to criticize judges when they abandon their constitutional duty and start playing politician in robes," one constitutional scholar noted.
The Chief Justice's appeal for civility might carry more weight if it came with acknowledgment of how the judiciary lost public trust in the first place. When courts ignore the Constitution and impose their will on 330 million Americans, they invite – and deserve – criticism.
President Trump's judicial appointments have begun restoring constitutional order to our courts, but there's still work to be done. Roberts would serve the country better by focusing on reining in activist judges rather than lecturing Americans who dare to hold the judiciary accountable.
The real threat to judicial integrity isn't criticism from patriots – it's judges who think they're philosopher-kings instead of constitutional interpreters.