Judicial independence was front and center in U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary.
Roberts wrote that the foundational principle of judicial review makes tension between the federal branches of government unavoidable, and he noted that public sentiment, whether it be criticism or praise, isn’t a threat to judicial independence.
“Public engagement with the work of the courts results in a better-informed polity and a more robust democracy,” wrote Roberts.
But there were a few areas, which Roberts termed “illegitimate activity,” that posed threats to the independence of judges in the country and the rule of law: violence, intimidation, disinformation and threats to defy lawfully entered judgments.
He noted that hostile threats and communications against judges have tripled in the past decade and that the U.S. Marshals Service had investigated more than 1,000 serious threats in the past five years. Roberts also pointed to several recent attacks, including the killings of state judges in Wisconsin and Maryland.
“These tragic events highlight the vulnerability of judges who sign their names to the decisions they render each day and return home each night to communities, where they remain involved as neighbors, volunteers, and concerned citizens,” Roberts wrote.
In addition to violence, Roberts also discussed the impact that intimidation has on courts and judicial officers and the increasing frequency of intimidation on the internet. He noted that the attempts at intimidation extended to public officials across the country as well.
“Within the past year we also have seen the need for state and federal bar associations to come to the defense of a federal district judge whose decisions in a high-profile case prompted an elected official to call for her impeachment,” Roberts wrote. “Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.”
In Colorado, a D.C.-based group recently launched a campaign against Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica Marquez for her vote that briefly struck President-elect Donald Trump from Colorado’s ballot. The Colorado Bar Association, Colorado Judicial Institute and Colorado Defense Lawyers Association all released statements expressing concern about the campaign.
Roberts noted that disinformation continues to grow, including from actors based outside of the country.
Changes in Caseloads
The nation’s highest court saw a slight increase in the number of cases filed, up 2% from its previous term. Federal appeals courts saw their caseloads remain stable, but district courts saw a drop of 14% in cases filed. Federal bankruptcy courts saw their caseloads increase, with filings up 16% over the past year.
While district courts saw a drop in overall caseloads, there were increases in certain types of cases. District courts saw a 10% rise in civil immigration filings and a 10% rise in civil rights filings. There was also a 6% increase in criminal defendant filings, with defendants accused of immigration offenses making up the largest category at 30% of filings. Those filings were largely localized to just five districts: the District of Arizona, the Southern District of California, the District of New Mexico, the Southern District of Texas and the Western District of Texas saw 90% of the filings in that category.
Bankruptcies were up, but still lower than the recent high recorded in 2020. Consumer bankruptcies rose 16% to 481,350 cases. Business bankruptcies, while a much smaller share of bankruptcies overall, rose by 33% to 22,762 cases.