Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, SUPREME COURT NEWS—Chief Justice Roberts issues 2025 year-end report, (Jan 5, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

“The Declaration of Independence was then, and remains today, a statement of national aspirations, not a codification of enforceable legal obligations.”

In the first part of Chief Justice Roberts’s 2025 Year End Report for the U.S. Supreme Court, he ruminates on the foundations of American legal and political principles, beginning with Thomas Paine’s arrival in Philadelphia in 1774 and his seminal pamphlet Common Sense, which Roberts describes as galvanizing colonial support for independence, and ending with a quote from President Calvin Coolidge in 1926 ( “Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with the assurance and confidence that those two great charters of freedom and justice remain firm and unshaken.”).

Chief Justice Roberts traces the formation of the Declaration of Independence, highlighting its famous preamble—which includes the famous language that “all men are created equal”—and recounts its immediate and lasting effects, including its role in shaping legal careers and the Federal Judiciary (five signers received appointments to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court justices).

Fell short of principles. The Chief Justice also briefly examines the Declaration’s relationship to the Constitution, noting how the latter codifies judicial independence and life tenure, correcting grievances against monarchical control over judges. However, Roberts notes that in some respects, the “concrete provisions of the 1787 Constitution fell short of honoring the abstract principles set forth in the 1776 Declaration—most notably, in regard to the Declaration’s promise of liberty and equality.”

“The Declaration of Independence was then, and remains today,” the Chief Justice wrote, “a statement of national aspirations, not a codification of enforceable legal obligations. Yet throughout our history it has played a signal role in the development of the Nation’s constitutional, statutory, and common law.”

Finally, Roberts charts the enduring influence of these ideals—through the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, women's suffrage, and civil rights movements—underscoring the ongoing challenge of realizing those “self-evident” truths in law and society.

“These national accomplishments illustrate that the responsibilities for living up to the promises of the Declaration rest on all three branches of our government as well as on each successive generation of Americans,” Roberts writes. “Those of us in the Third Branch must continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Workload of the courts. In the appendix, which covers the workload of the federal courts, the report notes that during the Supreme Court’s 2024 term (July 2024—June 2025) filings dropped nine percent, from 4,223 to 3,856. The Court heard 73 cases and issued 56 signed opinions across 64 cases, along with four per curiam decisions.

In the federal courts of appeals, filings rose five percent (from 39,788 to 41,824). Civil appeals climbed seven percent to 22,812, administrative appeals jumped 12 percent to 5,611, and other filings (including bankruptcy and original proceedings) increased 16 percent to 4,009. Criminal appeals, however, declined seven percent to 9,392.

Meanwhile, U.S. district courts saw a four percent rise in civil case filings, totaling 303,563. Federal question cases (i.e., actions under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States in which the United States is not a party) increased 12 percent to 157,421 filings in FY 2025. Civil rights filings grew 15 percent from the prior year. Cases with the United States as a defendant rose nine percent to 46,426.

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