Perhaps as attempt to find common ground, Roberts' annual Supreme Court report has historical spin
In his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts took a historical perspective, examining the evolution of the nation’s founding documents and how they shaped society and the judiciary.
In one part of the report, which was published Dec. 31, Roberts referenced President Calvin Coolidge, who gave a speech at the celebration of America’s sesquicentennial in 1926. He quoted Coolidge, who said, “Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with the assurance and confidence that those two great charters of freedom and justice remain firm and unshaken.”
“True then; true now,” Roberts then wrote.
Roberts, who in past years has written about threats to judges and the rule of law, did not directly address ongoing tensions between President Donald Trump’s administration and federal judges who have ruled against the president. He also did not address concerns federal judges have raised about the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary, as reported by the New York Times in October.
Aziz Huq, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School who focuses on constitutional law, points out this was “clearly a conscious” choice by Roberts.
“I think it’s—in all likelihood, but not certainly—an effort to identify the shared sources of legitimation for the courts at a moment of considerable partisan division and political violence, even if it’s not political violence that necessarily always affects judges,” Huq says. “It’s an attempt to find common ground that cuts across partisan differences.”
Through another historical reference, Roberts mentioned the early-19th-century impeachment trial of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, which established Congress can’t remove judges over contentious rulings. He also noted the concept of life tenure for judges was purposefully included in the Constitution “to safeguard the independence of federal judges and ensure their ability to serve as a counter-majoritarian check on the political branches.”
Roberts reminded his colleagues that they “must continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
After his year-end report, Roberts provided data illustrating the workload of the federal courts. Among these statistics:
• The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court during its October 2024 term—from July 3, 2024, to June 30, 2025—decreased 9% from the prior year.
• Seventy-three cases were argued and 64 were disposed of in 56 signed opinions in the Supreme Court’s 2024 term, compared with 69 cases argued and 64 disposed of in 55 signed opinions in its 2023 term.
• Filings in the federal courts of appeals increased 5% between fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Filings are still significantly down from fiscal year 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In fiscal year 2025, federal district courts saw a 4% increase in civil cases docketed from the prior year.
• Federal district courts docketed more than 79,000 criminal defendant filings in fiscal year 2025, which marks a 13% increase from the prior year and the largest number of filings in one year since fiscal year 2019.
• Filings for defendants accused of immigration offenses, which increased 27% from fiscal year 2024, made up the largest category of federal criminal defendant filings.
This is the 21st report Roberts has issued since he was appointed chief justice in 2005.
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