The Chief Justice's year-end report continues to confound. Roberts wrote "Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected." Who was he talking about?
Ruth Marcus thinks it was J.D. Vance. As Marcus tells it, Roberts took a swipe at the incoming Vice President. Is Roberts that dense? But in my view, Vance's full interview on the podcast reflects a sophisticated understanding of the limits of judicial supremacy. Ed Whelan made similar points.
A reader suggested that Roberts may have been talking about the 46 Democratic senators who recently signed a letter urging Biden to order the archivist to publish the ERA and recognize it as officially ratified. This move would be in defiance of several federal court rulings, as Ed Whelan also explained here and here. Was Roberts talking about nearly the entire Democratic membership in the United States? Could Roberts be so dense?
