After Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked calls this week by the Trump administration to impeach judges, social media users falsely claimed that he and other high-level legal professionals are part of a “secretive, invite only club.”
Many questioned the motives of members, hinting at coordinated efforts to oppose President Donald Trump.
Among those named was U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who Trump had demanded be removed from the bench for his order blocking deportation flights that the president was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from 18th century law.
But the group in question — the American Inns of Court — is hardly secretive given its large public presence, and there is no evidence that members are involved in nefarious activities targeting Trump. Roberts is no longer an active member and Boasberg is the president of a chapter that is no longer affiliated with the parent association.
Here's a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: Roberts, Boasberg and other powerful legal professionals are part of a secret, invite-only club that is working against Trump.
THE FACTS: This is false. Roberts was a member of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court chapter of the organization prior to his confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005, but he is not currently an active member of the organization, according to Executive Director Malinda Dunn.
Boasberg is the president of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, but the chapter disaffiliated from the parent association about 10 years ago when it decided it no longer wanted to pay dues to the national group, Dunn said. He was an active member prior to the chapter's decision to operate independently.
Information on the American Inns of Court is readily available online. Chapters also have their own websites, which often include details about programs they host for members, typically focused on networking, education and mentorship. Dunn said that members have a wide range of political opinions, but that the organization itself is “assiduously apolitical.”
Some on social media, however, baselessly claimed that there is more to the group than meets the eye.
“It has been revealed that Chief Justice John Roberts is part of an elite, invite-only group called the American Inns of Court, alongside some of the most openly anti-Trump judges in D.C.,” reads one X post.
And yet a check of other members reveals a diverse group. Many current and former Supreme Court justices have been members of the American Inns of Court, according to Dunn, including Sandra Day O'Connor, Neil Gorsuch, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Clarence Thomas.
Inns of Court have existed in the United Kingdom for hundreds of years. The American system, founded in 1980 out of discussions among legal professionals, including Chief Justice Warren Burger, is loosely based on this concept from across the pond.
The American Inns of Court states on its website that it is “dedicated to professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence” and that its mission is to “inspire the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring.”
O'Connor said in a 2015 video that “maintaining and improving an ethics of professionalism is what the American Inns of Court are all about.”
There are more than 300 active chapters across the U.S. Each one manages its own membership and some are limited to practitioners in a certain legal field. Roberts’ former chapter, for example, states that “members are elected to the Inn after being nominated by a current member” and that they must be “actively engaged in appellate practice.”
Dunn said chapters are advised to ensure that their members include legal professionals with different levels of experience. Some may hold membership drives to recruit new faces.
Roberts is currently an honorary bencher in The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, an inn of court in the U.K. This is a purely ceremonial role that, according to Dunn. British inns of court will always offer such a position to Supreme Court justices when they are confirmed, she said.
Representatives for Roberts and Boasberg did not respond to a request for comment.
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
FILE - Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts speaks at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, in Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — A crowd of protesters on each side of the abortion debate flooded a windowless Georgia Capitol hallway Wednesday with chants and signs as lawmakers held a hearing on a bill that would ban the procedure in almost all cases.
Although the bill will not go anywhere this year because a deadline has passed for consideration by both chambers, the hearing granted by the House's Republican leadership gave anti-abortion activists a chance to speak out on an issue near and dear to their constituents.
Dozens milled about and shouted words of support or disdain for the proposal. Onlookers tried to squeeze into the hearing room as sheriff's deputies guarded the area. One man raised his voice above the noise and said, “I'm so thankful that my mom gave me life” and did not “sacrifice” her children.
Each time someone left the room after testifying, they were met with cheers from those on their side of the bill.
“Tens of thousands of babies made in the image of God continue to be murdered in our state every year, all within the bounds of the current law,” said bill sponsor Rep. Emory Dunahoo, a Gillsville Republican.
The bill would make most abortions a crime from the point of fertilization, at which point one would be considered a person, and classify the procedure as a homicide. It would expand Georgia’s broad “personhood” law, which gives rights such as tax breaks and child support to unborn children. At least five states have personhood laws.
Georgia already bans abortions after finding a “detectable human heartbeat,” which can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy, when many women still don't know they are pregnant. Still, a flurry of religious leaders said the measure doesn't go far enough.
Some religious anti-abortion individuals were among the bill's opponents, though, saying it goes too far with criminalization.
Critics say the measure would bar women from lifesaving care during birth complications and in vitro fertilization. Many voiced concern that women with miscarriages or dangerous health complications would not get the care they need.
Rep. Shea Roberts, an Atlanta Democrat, recounted her own experience getting an abortion to save her life.
“It was one of the most devastating times in my life, and doctors told me that the dream of my child was going to die either inside of me or within minutes outside my body, and it would be suffering,” Roberts said.
The bill would grant some exceptions, including in cases involving a “spontaneous miscarriage” and procedures undertaken to save a woman's life "when accompanied by reasonable steps, if available, to save the life of her unborn child.”
But opponents say doctors would be too frightened to provide such care even when necessary. They pointed to the cases — reported by ProPublica — of two women who died from delayed care tied to Georgia's abortion law after taking abortion pills.
Doctors also noted that Georgia already has some of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates, especially for Black women. Lawmakers should focus on helping them get more care, opponents said.
Doctors also said the bill sets the stage for the criminalization of in vitro fertilization and would force fertility clinics to close. The bill comes about a month after Georgia’s House passed a bill with bipartisan support to protect the right to in vitro fertilization. That measure was sponsored by Statesboro Republican Rep. Lehman Franklin, whose wife used IVF to conceive.
Dr. Karenne Fru, who runs a fertility clinic that provides in vitro fertilization, said the bill would put her out of work.
“My whole life is doing God's work. He said go forth and procreate,” Fru said, her voice shaking. “I'm doing that. Please just let me continue to do that. I cannot go to jail because I want to help people become parents.”
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Anti-abortion protesters gather at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta to support a total abortion ban on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)
Protestors gather at the Georgia Capitol for a hearing on a bill that would ban all abortion in the state on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)
Demonstrators gather at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, to support and oppose a bill that would ban all abortion. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)
