Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said he believes U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is “out of touch” with growing concerns about the federal judiciary, pointing to the nation’s top jurist’s recent public defense of federal judges amid rising political criticism.
Speaking Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pulliam stressed how Roberts is not just the presiding officer of the nine-member Supreme Court, he is, essentially, “the public face of the judiciary.”
Pulliam noted that Roberts has repeatedly stepped in to defend judges from political attacks, pointing to a 2018 rebuke of President Donald Trump. At the time, Roberts responded to Trump’s criticism of a federal ruling by stating, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”
Pulliam said the chief justice’s statement was misguided in retrospect.
“In hindsight, that is remarkably tone deaf,” he said, citing what he described as a “tidal wave of judicial insurrection” seen so far during Trump’s second term.
A significant portion of Pulliam’s criticism focused on federal Judge Jon Tigar, whom he accused of advancing controversial rulings. Pulliam described Tigar as “not a judge doing his level best to follow the law,” and criticized decisions involving prison policies and gender identity claims.
“He went further in another case and said that if you had a male prisoner who was pretending to be a woman… you are entitled to that under the Eighth Amendment,” Pulliam said. “It would be cruel and unusual punishment not to force the taxpayers to pay for this costly… surgery.”
Pulliam argued that such rulings justify more direct criticism of judges, not just their legal reasoning.
“This idea that when a crazy judge makes a crazy ruling… we’re limited to questioning the legal reasoning… rather than calling out the person – that’s absurd,” he said.
Roberts recently reiterated concerns about personal attacks on judges during remarks at an event hosted by the Baker Institute for Public Policy, warning that escalating rhetoric could become “dangerous.”
Pulliam rejected that stance.
“The problem sometimes is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities,” he quoted Roberts as saying, before responding: “That’s absurd.”
Leahy echoed the criticism of Roberts during Monday’s broadcast, arguing that the country faces “a crisis” driven by judicial appointments in recent administrations.
Pulliam attributed Roberts’ perspective in part to his background.
“One of the reasons he is out of touch… is that he has spent his entire professional career inside the Beltway,” Pulliam said. “He has a very establishment background.”
Despite his criticism, Pulliam acknowledged the importance of maintaining public trust in the courts but argued that accountability is the solution.
“There’s nothing wrong with the Chief Justice wanting to maintain the public perception of the judiciary,” he stressed. “But you don’t do it by trying to censor criticism. You do it by winnowing out the bad apples and making the public want to admire the judiciary.”
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on YouTube / Rumble / Roku / AppleTV
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStar
https://t.co/79ruFaPoCH— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) March 23, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Chief Justice John Roberts” by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. CC BY 2.0.
