By Andrew Chung
BUFFALO (Sazua.com) – On Wednesday, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts defended the integrity of the American judicial system as it faced criticism from President Donald Trump and his supporters over recent court decisions blocking parts of his ambitious policy initiatives. Once more, he asserted that impeachment should not be used against judges delivering unpopular verdicts.
Trump, some fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have advocated impeaching some of the judges who have issued decisions against the president’s policies since he returned to office in January, a process in Congress that could lead to removal from the bench.
Roberts stated during comments at a judicial gathering in Buffalo, New York, “Registering disagreement with choices doesn’t come through impeachment.”
Roberts, who heads the Supreme Court along with its 6-3 conservative majority, didn’t specifically name Trump. However, his remarks mirrored the unusual criticism directed at the president by Roberts back in March following Trump’s call for the impeachment of a judge. This particular judge had instructed his administration to stop deporting Venezuelan immigrants using an old statute from 1798 known as the Alien Enemies Act. At the time, Trump referred to the judge derogatorily as a “Radical Left Lunatic.”
More frequently, the Supreme Court finds itself stepping into significant legal controversies related to the president. This happens as his assertive policy initiatives and wave of executive actions have often been halted by inferior courts.
Critics have charged the administration with flouting decisions from lower courts and even disregarding a Supreme Court ruling related to Trump’s efforts on tightening immigration policies.
On Wednesday, Roberts suggested that the appropriate method for addressing unfavorable decisions is through the appeals process, rather than resorting to impeachment.
“That’s what we’re there for,” Roberts said, answering questions posed by a federal judge before an audience of lawyers and other members of the judiciary.
Roberts, who was born in Buffalo and raised in Indiana, also spoke about the importance of the independence of judges in the U.S. system of government that separates the powers of the president, Congress and the judiciary.
“The primary task here is clearly to adjudicate cases; however, during this process, we also need to monitor the overreaches of either Congress or the executive branch, which calls for a significant level of autonomy,” Roberts stated, eliciting cheers from the audience.
Roberts engaged in a wide-ranging conversation addressing numerous subjects including the relationship among the court’s nine justices, which he said were strong despite sometimes sharp words exchanged by those in the majority and in dissent in major cases. Members of the court’s conservative and liberal blocs often are on opposite sides in the most important decisions.
Trump’s administration is contending with more than 200 lawsuits challenging his policies. His Justice Department has in turn flooded the Supreme Court with requests seeking emergency relief to enforce his policies. It has filed 13 such requests in just over 15 weeks since Trump returned to office.
The figure is unparalleled and continues to rise without indication of slowing down, according to Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck, an authority on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, who stated this in a blog post.
On Tuesday, the court granted Trump a significant triumph by allowing his prohibition against transgender individuals serving in the military to be implemented. Additionally, it endorsed the administration’s decision to reduce funding for teachers’ training programs—part of Trump’s efforts to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts—and approved plans to dismiss numerous provisional workers as part of an initiative to decrease the size of the federal workforce.
Nevertheless, the justices refused to permit the administration to withhold payments owed to international aid groups for services they had previously provided to the government. They also mandated that the administration must assist in securing the release from detention in El Salvador of an individual who was erroneously deported to that nation.
The justices also issued a decision to halt deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act after lawyers reported that the government was poised to imminently remove some in violation of the Supreme Court’s prior order.
The court is scheduled to hear arguments on May 15 in Trump’s bid to broadly enforce his executive order to restrict automatic birthright citizenship.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)
