Conservative Justice’s Daughter Outs Herself as Secret Liberal
John Roberts’ daughter backs blue.

Erin Schaff/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Chief Justice John Roberts has a dissenting opinion in his very own home: his daughter’s.
Josephine Roberts, the 26-year-old daughter of the George W. Bush-appointed Supreme Court justice, has said she held liberal views, according to a report from The New York Times.
In recent years, the 71-year-old’s lavish island home off Port Clyde, Maine, has often been surrounded by protesters in kayaks, who have dubbed themselves “kayak-tivisits.”
During one such incident in August 2025, the kayakers were confronted by Josephine, who asked them what they hoped to accomplish, according to the Times.

The group slammed Roberts’ role in the Supreme Court’s sharp rightward turn, citing among other decisions the overturning of the constitutional right to abortion, the ruling granting presidents immunity for official acts, and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act.
Courtesy of James Cook

Dozens turned out for the protest in Port Clyde, a coastal community of just a few hundred people.
Courtesy of James Cook
She then told them that her father respects her own left-leaning political views, adding that he was a “wonderful” father, kayakers recalled to the Times.
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In some cases, her father has lobbied for the liberal views she may hold, such as his failed bid to uphold Roe v. Wade before the court he presides over struck it down in 2022—effectively ending abortion access for roughly 40 million women and girls in nearly two dozen states across the country.
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A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

Jack and Josie Roberts look on as their father, John G. Roberts Jr., takes the Oath of Office as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States during ceremonies Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005, at the White House.
White House photo by Eric Draper/White House photo by Eric Draper
Little else is known about Josephine Roberts, the chief justice’s only daughter, who attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, a posh, all-girls Catholic school in a D.C. suburb. At her high school graduation in 2018, Chief Justice Roberts gave a commencement address warning that artificial intelligence would eradicate “individuality and creativity.”
The Robertses have long been pillars of their Maine community, but hostilities against the ultra-right court deepened after Roe and several other contentious cases, including one that all but shields President Donald Trump from the law, which Roberts voted for alongside the court’s other conservative justices.
Now, protesters’ signs declaring “The Roberts Court: Rubber Stamp for Fascism” and “Roberts Benched the Constitution” have been positioned outside his home, as recently as August 15, according to photos published in the Midcoast Villager.
Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the 6-3 majority to overturn Trump’s tariffs earlier this year.
LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS
Roberts and his wife, Jane Roberts, bought their 1,344-square-foot home on Hupper Island, a private island accessible only by water, twenty years ago. A decade later, they purchased a second, 1,560-square-foot home sitting on two waterfront acres, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Last month, the couple, whose wealth is estimated at roughly $25 million, sold their longtime home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for $3.44 million, Realtor.com reported.
But even friends of Roberts in Maine have confessed that the justice has become more isolated as the backlash against him has deepened, according to the Times.
Tamara Cody, a longtime friend of Roberts, said the change in him has been “hard to watch.”
“From what I see, the barrier runs both ways,” Mary Anne Mason, a friend and former law partner of the chief justice who lives in Port Clyde, told the outlet. “It’s harder for him to feel comfortable approaching people—and vice versa.”
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