Chief Justice Roberts Says Judicial Independence Under Threat

When the executive branch will not enforce court rulings, the other branches must do so to protect the rule of law, Roberts said in a report.

Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, as he sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, on Nov. 30, 2018. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Chief Justice John Roberts said on Dec. 31 that the federal judiciary faces growing challenges ranging from violent threats against judges, to disinformation, to elected officials urging that court rulings be ignored.

Roberts, who as chief justice of the United States both oversees the judicial branch of the federal government and presides over oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court, made the comments in his annual year-end report on the state of the federal judiciary.