May 8 (UPI) — In a rare public appearance at a time when the courts have come under attack, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts reiterated his support for judicial independence and his rejection of calls to impeach judges.
Roberts, a conservative appointee of President George W. Bush, made the comments Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y., during a talk held in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.
With District Judge Lawrence Vilardo of the court being honored, Roberts discussed his career and spoke of his ascent to the highest court in the country. Though President Donald Trump was not mentioned by name, his presence loomed over the conversation, which was held against the backdrop of judges who have ruled against the Trump administration being attacked and calls for their resignation coming from the president, members of his party and his supporters.
oOn Wednesday, Roberts championed the independence of the judicial branch from the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government as “the only real political science innovation of our Constitution.”
“In our 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. That innovation doesn’t work if the judiciary is not independent,” he said.
“Its job is to decide cases, but in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.”
In response to a question from Vilardo concerning the calls for impeachment of judges, Roberts highlighted the statement he issued in mid-March that decried such calls as an inappropriate response to decisions one disagrees with.
“Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions,” the chief justice reiterated Wednesday. “That’s what we’re there for.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked the judicial system, attracting condemnation from legal and other organizations since early in its second term.
Those criticisms have only increased amid growing fears about the potential that the White House will defy court orders it disagrees with, ignore the due process rights afforded immigrants by the Constitution and threaten — and potentially arrest — judges who stand against its policies.
Roberts issued his rare public statement in mid-March in response to Trump calling for the impeachment of a judge who blocked his attempt to deport hundreds of Venezuelans.
“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,” Roberts said.
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What. we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”
Trump had lambasted Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia hours earlier, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic,” “crooked,” “a troublemaker,” and an “agitator” who “should be impeached!!!”
On Monday, a group of more than 140 retired state and federal judges sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter condemning the Trump administration’s attack on the judiciary, including the April arrest of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge in her courthouse on allegations of aiding a migrant defendant in evading federal immigration arrest.
They called Hannah Dugan’s arrest the latest action by the Trump administration “to intimidate and threaten the judiciary” following rulings by judges appointed by both parties holding it “accountable for its countless violations of the Constitution.”
“The American people understand that the Constitution of the United States has made the nation’s judicial officers the guardians of the rule of law in our country, not the president. The nation’s judiciary does not operate at the President’s instruction or at his discretion,” they said.
“We unequivocally reject your and the Trump Administration’s assault on the judiciary, the Rule of Law and those who administer it, including Judge Dugan. This does not make us ‘deranged,'” the retired judges continued, quoting an often-uttered insult by Trump directed at members of the judiciary who rule against him.
“It’s what makes us Americans.”