Tennessee congressman files articles of impeachment against Roberts

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(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, filed six articles of impeachment against U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, saying Roberts's leadership is marked by "arbitrary, unexplained, and inconsistent decisions."

The 10-term congressman's district, which includes Memphis, was carved into three separate districts by Tennessee lawmakers during a special session. Cohen is not seeking another term in Congress.

Roberts joined the Supreme Court's majority in deciding the Louisiana v. Callais decision. The decision prompted Gov. Bill Lee to call a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly, during which the state's congressional districts were redrawn. 

"The Chief Justice allowed the Court to become a partisan force, in breach of the constitutional guarantee of a republican form of government, due process, and equal protection of the laws, and the Chief Justice’s obligation to 'administer justice without respect to persons' and 'faithfully and impartially discharge his duties," Cohen said in his first impeachment article. "Time and time again, the Court has violated its own principles with a pattern of interfering in elections on behalf of Republican candidates." 

Cohen also cited the Supreme Court's 2024 decision granting President Donald Trump absolute immunity for actions committed while performing his "core duties" and presumptive immunity for the rest of his official actions.

"In placing a single person above the law, Chief Justice Roberts breached his oath to 'administer justice without respect to persons,'" Cohen said in the impeachment articles. 

A message to the public information officer for the Supreme Court was not returned before publication.  

Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president and approved by the U.S. Senate. The only way they can be removed, except for impeachment, is if they resign, retire or die. 

Only one Supreme Court Justice has been impeached. The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Samuel Chase in 1804, but he was acquitted after the U.S. Senate failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote to remove him from the bench, according to the Federal Judicial Center, the federal government's research arm for the judicial branch. 

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed impeachment articles against Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in 2024, but the full House never heard the case.