WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Supreme Court warned Tuesday that personal criticism of federal judges is dangerous and 鈥渋t鈥檚 got to stop,鈥� two days after called a federal judge who ruled against the administration 鈥渨acky, nasty, crooked and totally out of control.鈥�
As he has done before, Roberts was careful not to single out Trump or anyone else, insisting that the attacks on judges are not from 鈥渏ust any one political perspective.鈥�
Criticism of judicial opinions 鈥渃omes with the territory鈥� and can be healthy, Roberts said in remarks at Rice University鈥檚 Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston.
But it’s different when the criticism moves away from legal analysis. 鈥淧ersonally directed hostility is dangerous and it鈥檚 got to stop,鈥� Roberts said.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, who shared the stage with the chief justice, thanked Roberts because 鈥渨e always know that you have our backs and that means a great deal.”
The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, up from the year before. Roberts acknowledged the 鈥渟erious threats鈥� by noting Congress has responded by increasing funding for judges’ security.
Trump’s most recent comments about judges came Sunday in a post on his Truth Social by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashing subpoenas the Justice Department had issued to the Federal Reserve.
Boasberg, Trump wrote, is 鈥渁 Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge鈥� who 鈥渟uffers from the highest level of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), and has been 鈥榓fter鈥� my people, and me, for years.鈥�
Last year, Roberts publicly rejected Trump’s call for Boasberg鈥檚 impeachment when the judge blocked additional deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The president also has been highly critical of Roberts and the five other justices he imposed under an emergency powers law. Trump said he was 鈥渁bsolutely ashamed鈥� of the members of the court who ruled against him, questioning their patriotism and singling out two of his own appointees, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.
Trump’s allies and administration officials also have joined in the criticism. After U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston on Monday blocked the administration’s effort to reshape vaccines policy, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that other rulings from Murphy had been upended.
鈥淗ow many times can Judge Murphy get reversed in one year? The same day he is stayed for repeatedly refusing to follow the law, he issues another activist decision. We will keep appealing these lawless decisions, and we will keep winning. The question is, how much embarrassment can this Judge take?鈥� Blanche posted on X.
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