Chief justice puts spotlight on security after SCOTUS faced protests, threats since leak, Roe reversal
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Chief Justice John Roberts put a focus on judicial security in his annual report on the federal courts released New Year's Eve.
After telling the story of a courageous and dedicated federal trial court judge who found himself ruling on efforts – a few years after the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education – to resist school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, Roberts turned his attention to modern-day judges, their staff and the various law enforcement officers who protect them and federal courthouses across the nation.
"The law requires every judge to swear an oath to perform his or her work without fear or favor, but we must support judges by ensuring their safety," wrote Roberts, who oversees the federal judiciary alongside his role on the Supreme Court. "A judicial system cannot and should not live in fear."
Security concerns for Supreme Court after opinion leak, Roe overturned
Roberts' remarks come after Congress passed a law earlier this month to enhance judicial privacy and security. Mid-year, President Joe Biden signed a law regarding security for the families of Supreme Court justices, and the spending bill Biden signed Thursday also included a boost in funding for the federal courts and their security.
"I want to thank the Members of Congress who are attending to judicial security needs—these programs and the funding of them are essential to run a system of courts," Roberts wrote in Saturday's report.
An armed man was arrested outside the suburban Washington home of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in June, and the justices faced threats, protests and other security concerns after a leaked draft opinion in a high-profile abortion case that ultimately led to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
In 2020, the son and husband of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas were shot by a disgruntled lawyer at their home, killing her 20-year old son and seriously wounding her husband. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act was named after the son, the couple's only child.
Roberts' annual report makes no mention of other big controversies and questions surrounding the high court in 2022: the investigation into the leak of the draft abortion opinion; the political backlash the court received after overturning Roe; the sparring among some of the justices about the court's institutional role and standing; recurring questions about ethics, reform and oversight of the high court.
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'Quietly, diligently, and faithfully'
Roberts wrote that Salas has been "a brave, able, and admirable advocate" for the cause of judicial security and privacy since her son was slain "when he answered the door to her home in what was meant to be an attack on her."
But the chief justice spent much of his remarks on the issue focused on another federal trial court judge who in 1957 was assigned to serve in Little Rock, Arkansas, as the state's governor sought to resist desegregation and Thurgood Marshall, then a top lawyer for the NAACP, was called in to help represent the Little Rock Nine in federal court.
"It fell to U.S. District Judge Ronald N. Davies to hear the case," Roberts wrote, adding "when it came time to rule in the school desegregation litigation, Davies did not flinch."
"'The law was very clear that the schools had to be integrated,'" Roberts quotes Davies as recalling some years later. And so Davies did his job in the face of physical threats against him.
"The judge was uncowed, and happily so were others who stuck up for the rule of law," Roberts explained. After pointing out that Davies "missed his own son’s wedding to see through his charge to follow the law," Roberts sought to draw a parallel to the judges currently serving in the federal courts:
We have roughly 2,000 federal judicial officers—Circuit Judges, District Judges, Magistrate Judges, Bankruptcy Judges, and more—who quietly, diligently, and faithfully discharge their duties every day of the year. Each of them makes sacrifices for a career in public service.
An homage at the Supreme Court
In an homage to Davies' and Marshall's actions in 1957, Roberts said the judge's bench and other original courtroom furnishings were being refurbished to ultimately be on display at the federal courthouse in Little Rock but before that they will be on display at the Supreme Court building in Washington beginning in 2023.
"The events of Little Rock teach about the importance of rule by law instead of by mob," Roberts also wrote in his year-end report.
Go deeper:
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chief Justice John Roberts uses 2022 report to focus on security
