Chief Justice John Roberts is facing sharp criticism from legal experts who accuse him of enabling President Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies. Over the past 20 years, Roberts has portrayed himself as a modern institutionalist, but recent decisions from the Supreme Court have raised concerns about the erosion of the rule of law in America.
Since March, the court's six conservative justices, including three appointed by Trump, have granted the administration 18 consecutive victories in emergency relief requests. These rulings, often issued through the court's 'shadow docket' with minimal explanation, have temporarily allowed actions of dubious legality, such as mass firings of federal employees, purges of transgender people from the military, and deportations of immigrants to dangerous third countries.
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor has dissented, warning that the court is 'rewarding lawlessness' and undermining the principle of a government of laws. Former federal appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig stated that Roberts is 'presiding over the end of the rule of law in America.'
The chief justice's relationship with Trump came under scrutiny after a March 4 speech where Trump thanked Roberts effusively, possibly for rulings that allowed Trump to stay on the ballot and granted him immunity from prosecution for the January 6 insurrection. Roberts has not publicly addressed the criticism.
