American Revolution

Roberts' year-end report on the federal judiciary includes some notable statements about the Declaration and its relevance to constitutional interpretation and judicial review.

Ilya Somin | 1.5.2026 5:47 PM

In his year-end report on the state of the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts makes some notable statements about the Declaration of Independence and its relevance to constitutional interpretation. The relevant section in Roberts' report is occasioned by upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration, and much of it reads like standard civics book material. But there are a few noteworthy passages.

First, Roberts notes that the Declaration "sets out a statement of political values
based on Enlightenment principles."  This endorsement of the idea that the United States is a "creedal nation" based on universal liberal values may seem obvious. But it's at odds with the insistence of both far-leftists and right-wing ethno-nationalists that the Declaration and the Founding were meant to establish a nation promoting the interests of a specific racial or ethnic group (usually defined as Anglo-Saxon whites). I cannot know for sure. But I suspect that Roberts is aware of this dispute and........

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