U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is speaking out about the dangers of violent political rhetoric against judges, his comments coming during a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Judges and lawyers were present at the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit when Roberts made his statements on Saturday, Fox News reported.
“It becomes wrapped up in the political dispute that a judge who’s doing his or her job is part of the problem,” he said, adding, “And 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 then issued a warning, “So, I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind.”
The Fox article said Roberts condemned Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer in 2020 for comments directed at justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, who were appointed by Trump, over an abortion case.
Schumer said, “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” However, he later claimed his statement was directed at Senate Republicans and was not making a threat.
In March, Roberts blasted Trump’s call for the impeachment of a judge who moved to block deportations of illegal aliens who were suspected members of the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), Breitbart News reported.
Roberts said in a statement, “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
It is important to note that on Friday, Trump praised the Supreme Court’s decision to end federal district judges’ ability to abuse nationwide injunctions, the news coming as they have been hindering the progress of his agenda in several areas, according to Breitbart News.
Trump said, “This was a big decision, an amazing decision, one that we’re very happy about.”
“I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, 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 added.
In 2022, Roberts expressed his agreement with programs that offered judges protection, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The outlet quoted him as saying, “we must support judges by ensuring their safety.”
Read the full article here