FTC executive director Gabe Roth released this statement in response to Chief Justice Roberts’ year-end report on the federal judiciary:

“America doesn’t need another New Year’s Eve anecdote from the Chief Justice about how the courts in some forgotten age bent but didn’t break. We want reassurance that in this era, with millions of us ill and our democratic institutions sicker than they’ve been in decades, at least one branch – the judiciary – will hold fast and act dispassionately.

“Roberts rarely speaks publicly or releases public statements, but when he does, his words carry weight. So I had hoped to read a strident defense of our constitutional system, with an implicit rebuke of those currently trying to undermine it. Yet like so much else in 2020, the year-end report was a disappointment. Onward to 2021.”