Chief Justice John Roberts stresses judicial independence amid tensions with Trump

By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — Chief Justice John Roberts stressed the importance of judicial independence during public remarks Wednesday, noting that the judiciary’s role as a co-equal branch of government is central to the nation’s political system.

“The judiciary is a coequal 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 at an event in his native Buffalo, New York.

The judiciary’s role, Roberts added, is to “decide cases but, in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive.”

That work, Roberts said, “does require a degree of independence.”

Roberts’ remarks on the judiciary drew an extended round of applause from the judges and lawyers who gathered in Western New York to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the federal court there. The chief justice was born in Buffalo but moved to Indiana when he was 10 years old.

Roberts, who in September will mark his 20th year as chief, did not mention President Donald Trump by name, nor did he directly discuss the tension between the executive and judicial branches that has surfaced since the president took office in January. Asked about calls by Trump and some of his allies to impeach judges who rule against his administration, Roberts noted that he had issued a statement on that issue earlier this year.

“Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with decisions,” he said.

Roberts delivered a rare rebuke to the president in March, issuing the statement in response to calls at the time to impeach judges who have placed some parts of his agenda on hold, including the administration’s rapid rewriting of federal immigration policies and its efforts to reduce government spending approved by Congress.

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

In recent public remarks, Trump has been more careful to specifically vow to honor future Supreme Court rulings – even as he has continued to rail against judges who rule against him. But in a number of high-profile cases, including one involving a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, the administration has interpreted any ambiguity to its advantage.

Roberts, who has frequently raised the importance of judicial independence in the past, made no mention of the large number of cases involving Trump’s second term that have landed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket in recent months, including appeals involving the firing of board members at independent agencies and the controversial effort to deport some migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

One of the highest profile cases now pending at the court involves Trump’s order to effectively end birthright citizenship. After lower courts blocked the administration from moving forward, the administration has asked the justices to significantly limit who would be protected by those lower court orders.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in that case on May 15.

Most of Roberts’ remarks Wednesday stuck to familiar themes, though the chief justice did briefly defend decisions that overturn precedent. Though Roberts did not discuss specific modern cases, his court has received significant blowback – and sagging public approval – for its 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“A lot of people talk as if we’re overruling a lot more. It’s the lowest it’s been since the ’50s,” Roberts said.

And some cases, Roberts said, should be overruled.

“The idea that its invariably a bad thing to overrule precedent is, I think, quite mistaken,” he added. “At the same time, you can’t do it willy nilly.”

Asked by US District Judge Lawrence Vilardo if he ever thought about retiring, Roberts shot back flatly: “No.”

The chief justice, who turned 70 this year, then launched into a discussion about how he might make that calculation some day. If he recognized, at some point, that he was a burden to the court, he said, maybe that would be different. Roberts said he once asked “very good friends” to let him know if they ever felt it was time for him to step down.

After a long pause, Roberts said, both friends simultaneously joked that it was already time.

For now, Roberts said, he felt “pretty healthy.”

“I’m going out feet first,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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