WASHINGTON—At a time when threats against judges are increasing, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a warning on Saturday that the use of harsh language by elected officials regarding judges might provoke threats or violent acts by others.
When Roberts stated that he has felt forced to publicly chastise leaders in both parties in recent years, he made explicit reference to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican President Donald Trump without naming specific individuals.
At a meeting of attorneys and judges in Charlotte, North Carolina, Roberts stated that it gets caught up in the political controversy that a judge who is carrying out their duties is contributing to the issue. Naturally, the risk is that someone could notice. Of course, there have also been severe threats of violence and homicide against judges for just carrying out their duties. Therefore, I believe that both political parties need to remember that.
The day after the Supreme Court released its final rulings of the term, which included a significant win for Trump that restricts judges’ use of nationwide court orders to thwart his agenda, Roberts attended the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judicial conference. Roberts’ chat with Chief Judge Albert Diaz of the 4th Circuit was shown on C-Span.
In 2018, Roberts responded to Trump’s portrayal of an Obama judge who rejected his migrant asylum policy, which prompted Roberts to first criticize Trump’s remarks. Shortly after Trump urged the removal of a judge who had ruled against his deportation plans, Roberts dismissed calls in March for judges to be impeached.
Roberts criticized Schumer in 2020 for comments he described as offensive and menacing, following the senator’s claim that Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, two Justices selected by Trump, would be punished for decisions in a Louisiana abortion case that was still ongoing at the time. Later on, Schumer claimed he shouldn’t have spoken those things.
Two years later, as the court was about to destroy the constitutional safeguards for abortion provided by Roe v. Wade, police detained an armed man outside Kavanaugh’s suburban Washington home. Nicholas John Roske entered a guilty plea to attempting Kavanaugh’s murder in April.
