The High Crimes of the Roberts Court

Treason, in the US Constitution, is narrowly defined.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Criticizing the President, or any government action or official, is not treason. The Constitution forbids charging lèse-majesté as treason; not only may a cat look at the king, the cat may snarl at the king. This is a wise rule; it prevents a President from charging anyone who criticizes them as traitor, something the Founders were all too familiar with from English history. But there is another kind of betrayal, that of principle. Over time, the Supreme Court has come to be seen as the guardian of the principles of the Constitution and two of those founding principles are:

1. Secular government
2. No kings, no aristocracy

The Roberts Court, in its support for religious law¹ and monarchical presidential power² has betrayed both of these principles.

The constitution has this to say about impeachment:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.³

Hamilton wrote in Federalist 65⁴:

those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.

The betrayals of the Roberts Court are high crimes, meriting impeachment.

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1. See for instance Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.. A statistical overview is provided in The Roberts Court and the Transformation of Constitutional Protections for Religion, summarized in the New York Times article An Extraordinary Winning Streak for Religion at the Supreme Court ↩︎

2. John Roberts. Trump v. United States, No. 23-939 (US Supreme Court July 1, 2024). ↩︎

3. Judicial Impeachments | Constitution Annotated | Congress.Gov | Library of Congress.” Accessed October 7, 2024. ↩︎

4. Alexander Hamilton. “Federalist No 65: The Powers of the Senate Continued.” Accessed October 7, 2024. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed65.asp. ↩︎