U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts called on Americans—and his fellow justices—to rise above partisanship and political toxicity during a conversation at Georgetown Law on Monday, May 12. As the Supreme Court prepares to take up major Trump administration legal battles, Roberts underscored the need for institutional cooperation.
“It’s really too bad,” Roberts said about the country’s polarized political climate. “We’re developing a situation where a whole group of young people is growing up having no real sense about how our system of justice works.” His comments came during a fireside chat with Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor.
While Roberts avoided naming specific politicians or cases, his remarks followed recent criticism from President Donald Trump, who has lashed out over court decisions hindering key second-term initiatives. The Court will soon hear arguments over the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a ban on transgender military service, and an order to end birthright citizenship.
Roberts made clear that even among the justices, “we disagree a lot,” but emphasized the importance of working through those disagreements professionally. “We have to work together on these things that are difficult,” he said.
He added that personal animosities within the Court have been a concern in past eras, and that the current justices strive to avoid such dysfunction. “It’s a long job. If you’re sort of really at each other’s throats with bad feelings and stuff like that, it’s just not a good way to function.”
Roberts also highlighted the mundane realities of close professional relationships, even among the nation’s top jurists. “There’s also the matter of the little things,” he quipped. “If you’re sitting next to somebody, and you just can’t stand the way he or she kind of taps the chair… you’ve got to decide, am I going to tell her to stop doing that, or am I going to just get over it?” As he told the law students, “You find a way to get along.”
