John Roberts Dismisses Attacks On The Courts With 1 Important Reminder

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday defended judicial independence as the “only real political science innovation” in the Constitution amid President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the courts, while declaring he has no plans to give up his influential position anytime soon.

In a fireside chat at the Western District of New York’s 125th anniversary celebration, Roberts said the independence of the judiciary is “central” to the way the country functions.

In the U.S. Constitution, the judiciary “is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of the president,” Roberts said.

“That innovation doesn’t work if… the judiciary is not independent. Its job is to, obviously, decide cases but in the course of that check the excesses of Congress or of the executive, and that does require a degree of independence,” Roberts added.

Roberts also briefly weighed in on calls for the impeachment of judges, as Trump has not shied away from openly hammering those who rule against him.

“Well, I’ve already spoken to that,” Roberts said, without referencing Trump at any point over the course of his remarks. “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions.”

His words echoed a rare statement he issued in March shortly after Trump demanded the removal of a judge who blocked his deportation plans.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said at the time. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

Roberts’ statement does not appear to have affected the president, who, as recently as Wednesday, claimed that the court system is standing in the way of his political agenda.

“Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump also did not commit to upholding due process rights set out in the Constitution for U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike during a “Meet The Press” interview broadcast this weekend.

Roberts’ Wednesday appearance comes less than a week after Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered a forceful rebuke of the “relentless attacks and disregard” judges are confronted with daily.

“A society in which judges are routinely made to fear for their own safety or their own livelihood due to their decisions is one that has substantially departed from the norms of behavior that govern a democratic system,” Jackson said at a judicial conference, according to The New York Times. “Attacks on judicial independence is how countries that are not free, not fair, and not rule of law oriented, operate.”

During his fireside chat, Roberts, who assumed his position as chief justice in 2005, also made clear he has no plans to retire anytime soon.

“I’m going out feet first,” he said.

“I say that now,” he added. “I’m sure if your health declines and all, if you recognize that if you’re a burden to the court rather than part of an assist to everybody then, you know, it’ll be time to go.”