Chief Justice John Roberts shrugged off critics as “venting” a day after the Supreme Court delivered a huge win for President Donald Trump.
“It’s not the judges’ fault that a correct interpretation of the law meant that, ‘No, you don’t get to do this,’” Roberts said at a conference for judges Saturday. “If it’s just venting because you lost, then that’s not terribly helpful.”
While Roberts’ statement was about reactions to court rulings in general, the Court faced withering criticism for a controversial ruling Friday that helps Trump thwart federal judges.
The ruling prevents district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions against Trump’s executive orders, which had often halted the president’s norm-shattering agenda during his second term.
Roberts also urged against “political people” using inflammatory rhetoric against jurists over rulings they disagree with.
“The danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that, and we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work,” he said. “I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind.”
In March, Roberts issued a rare public statement to rebuke Trump for doing exactly that. The president had called for the impeachment of a federal judge who issued a ruling against his mass deportation effort.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Trump praised the conservatives on the Supreme Court, including Roberts, for Friday’s decision, which split the court 6-3 along ideological lines.
“We’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers,” he said before reporters at the White House. “I’m grateful to the Supreme Court for stepping in and solving this very, very big and complex problem, and they’ve made it very simple,” Trump added. I want to thank Justice Barrett, who wrote the opinion brilliantly, as well as Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Thomas.”
