NATIONAL NEWS

Chief Justice Roberts says judicial independence is key to checking Congress and the president

May 7, 2025, 4:42 PM

Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during a fireside chat at the 125th anniversary celebration of th...

Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during a fireside chat at the 125th anniversary celebration of the United States District court for the Western District of New York, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

BUFFALO (AP) — Amid attacks on federal judges who have slowed President Donald Trump’s agenda, Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday defended judicial independence as necessary to “check the excesses of the Congress or the executive.”

“Judicial independence is crucial,” Roberts, the leader of the Supreme Court and the entire federal judiciary, said at a gathering of judges and lawyers in his hometown.

The 70-year-old chief justice largely repeated things he has said previously. But his comments, in response to questions from another federal judge, drew applause from the 600 people who gathered to mark the 125th anniversary of federal courts in the Western District of New York.

Asked about comments from Trump and his allies supporting the impeachment of judges because of their rulings, Roberts largely repeated the statement he issued in March. “Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision,” he said.

His appearance in the city where he was born followed — by less than a week — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s forceful condemnation of attacks on judges.

In a speech to a conference of judges and lawyers in Puerto Rico, Jackson talked about “the relentless attacks and disregard and disparagement that judges around the country, and perhaps many of you, are now facing on a daily basis.”

Jackson, in remarks posted on the court’s website, described the attacks as “the elephant in the room” in the course of a talk that did not once mention Trump.

The president, senior aide Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk have railed at judges who have blocked parts of Trump’s agenda, sometimes with highly personal attacks. Trump called the judge who temporarily halted deportations using an 18th century wartime law a “radical left lunatic.”

There also have been unsettling attempts at intimidation in the form of unwanted pizza deliveries to the homes of judges and their children. Some of those deliveries have been sent in the name of Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was shot dead at the family home by a disgruntled lawyer in 2020.

“These deliveries are threats intended to show that those seeking to intimidate the targeted judge know the judge’s address or their family members’ addresses,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote Tuesday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Trump has largely spared the high court, which is weighing several emergency appeals of lower court rulings that have gone against him.

The president has a mixed record in front of the justices so far. On Tuesday, the court’s conservative majority revived the administration’s ban on transgender military service members while court challenges to the policy continue. The three liberal justices dissented.

But the court also has temporarily halted some deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th century wartime law. And the justices also said deportations can’t take place without giving people a chance to challenge them in court.

Next week, the court is hearing arguments over Trump’s executive order that would deny citizenship to American-born children of people who are in the country illegally. The Justice Department wants the court to narrow lower court orders so that the restrictions could be enforced in more than half the country, while the cases continue.

___

National News

FILE - In this image taken from video provided by WSVN-TV, emergency personnel respond to the area ...

Associated Press

Pilot of small plane reported a rudder problem before crash that killed 3

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — One of the pilots of a small plane that crashed last month in South Florida, killing all three people on board, reported only being able to make left turns with the rudder before the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, according to federal investigators. The Cessna 310 veered to the left […]

45 minutes ago

Associated Press

Police say 2 students turned themselves in after fatal stabbing outside California high school

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Two high school students have turned themselves in to police in connection with a fatal stabbing in front of a Southern California high school, authorities said. Santa Ana Police Officer Natalie Garcia said the 15-year-old and 17-year-old boys came forward hours after the Wednesday afternoon attack that killed one student […]

55 minutes ago

This photo, provided by The Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y., shows "Defender", "GoldenEye 007", "Q...

Associated Press

World Video Game Hall of Fame inducts Defender, Tamagotchi, GoldenEye 007 and Quake

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame on Thursday inducted four honorees, paying tribute to games that challenged players and changed the industry. Making up the Class of 2025 are: Defender, the 1981 arcade game that raised the bar on difficulty; Tamagotchi, the digital pets that bridged toys and video games; […]

1 hour ago

President Donald Trump, from right, speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burg...

Associated Press

House follows Trump’s lead with a vote to change the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name. President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office to rename the Gulf. […]

1 hour ago

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to...

Associated Press

Trump administration invokes state secrets privilege in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is invoking the “ state secrets privilege ” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis disclosed the government’s position in a two-page order on Wednesday. She set a Monday deadline […]

1 hour ago

Ron Kaz demonstrates outside the site of the scheduled execution of South Carolina inmate Mikal Mah...

Associated Press

Lawyers for man executed by firing squad in South Carolina say bullets mostly missed his heart

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man who was put to death last month in South Carolina’s second firing squad execution was conscious and likely in extreme pain for as long as a minute after the bullets, meant to quickly stop his heart, struck him lower than expected, according to a pathologist hired by his attorneys. […]

2 hours ago

Chief Justice Roberts says judicial independence is key to checking Congress and the president