Chief Justice John Roberts said in a dramatic first solo dissent that a ruling by his fellow justices on Monday would radically increase the power of the court and threatened to turn judges into “ advisory columnists. ”
Roberts was aiming for an 8-1 Supreme Court decision to side with a former Georgia Gwinnett College student who sued his school for $ 1 after it prevented him from discussing his faith on campus in 2016, violating his religious rights .
In a dissenting opinion, Roberts argued that the little pittance that the student, Chike Uzuegbunam, was looking for was not substantial enough to support a federal lawsuit, especially since the plaintiff was no longer a student and his former school had lifted the offending speech code .
Roberts allowed the case to continue, saying that while a legal victory would not change the “status or condition of Uzuegbunam at all,” it amounted to a “radical expansion” of the judiciary.
“The court sees no problem in turning judges into advisory columnists,” Roberts wrote. “In her view, common law and (to a lesser extent) our cases require federal courts to open their doors to any plaintiff asking for a dollar.”
Court officials said Monday’s ruling marked the first time Roberts, a George W. Bush appointed person, wrote a lonely dissent on the Supreme Court in nearly 16 years.
Uzuegbunam sued Georgia Gwinnett College after school officials repeatedly instructed him not to practice his Christian faith on campus, claiming he had failed to comply with the school’s speech code in several ways.
The lower federal courts dismissed the case, partially ruling that the tiny payout Uzuegbunam was seeking was not enough to justify his legal right to sue.
The 8-1 court disagreed on Monday and reenacted the lawsuit, with Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence ThomasVernon Jordan: An American Legend And Close Friend Kavanaugh Appalles Conservatives By Dodging Pro-Trump Election Procedures Laurence Tribe: Justice Thomas Out Of Order In 2020 Election MORE write for the majority.