Chief Justice Roberts Says US Supreme Court Is Not Political

The justices sometimes make decisions that are unpopular, but they are based on the law, Roberts said.

Chief Justice John Roberts (L) and Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor (R) stand in the House of Representatives ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on March 7, 2024. Shawn Thew/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Chief Justice John Roberts said on May 6 that U.S. Supreme Court justices are not “political actors.”

Roberts’s comments came at a conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania, attended by judges and attorneys from the jurisdictions covered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. That circuit encompasses Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.