Overview

• At a North Carolina conference, Roberts called much public backlash “not terribly helpful” venting that focuses on winners and losers rather than legal reasoning.
• He emphasized that justices must apply existing law and cannot be blamed when correct interpretations prevent desired outcomes.
• Roberts spoke with 4th Circuit Chief Judge Albert Diaz one day after the Court issued six 6-3 decisions on issues ranging from birthright citizenship injunctions to Texas’s porn site age-verification law and LGBTQ curriculum opt-outs.
• He acknowledged that some interpretations may be wrong and urged critics to detail legal errors so the courts of appeals can reconsider contested rulings.
• Roberts admitted the end-of-term schedule was “a little crunched” and pledged to space out opinion releases more evenly next term to ease workload pressure.