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Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Chief Justice John Roberts warned Tuesday that personal attacks on Supreme Court justices and lower court judges are "dangerous" and said hostility directed toward specific jurists has "got to stop." "Judges around the country work very hard to get it right and if they don't, their opinions are subject to criticism," Roberts said during an event at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston. "But personally directed hostility is dangerous and it's got to stop."

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... The chief justice was responding to a question from U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal about criticisms of the Supreme Court and its rulings.

Rosenthal, who was appointed to the federal trial court in Texas by former President George H.W. Bush, thanked Roberts for his defense of lower court judges, saying judges know "you have our backs."

Roberts acknowledged that criticisms of the Supreme Court's decisions "come with the territory," and sometimes come from fellow justices in the form of dissents.

"We don't believe we're flawless in any way and it's important that our decisions are subjected to scrutiny, and they are," he said.

But, Roberts continued, "the problem sometimes is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities.

And you see -- from all over, not just any one political perspective on it -- that it's more directed in a personal way and that frankly can be actually quite dangerous."

The chief justice's comments come as federal judges around the country have encountered a surge of threats, many of them arising after issuing decisions against the Trump administration.

President Trump and senior members of his administration have also leveled accusations against judges whose rulings they disagree with, claiming they are "far-left" and "rogue" activists. ...



#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-17 09:43 PM | Reply

Related ...

Trump Lashes Out at Supreme Court and District Judge Boasberg
time.com

... President Donald Trump lashed out at "the courts," which he said treat him "so unfairly," in a two-part social media missive Sunday night full of falsehoods and pointed criticisms. He noted that his posts "will cause me nothing but problems in the future, but I feel it is my obligation to speak the TRUTH."

"Trump just posted a lot of words about the Supreme Court and other courts " many of which were not true," Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney posted on X, after the President's Truth Social posts. "The rest is one of the most incendiary attacks on the court in memory."

The first post started with Trump blasting the Supreme Court for ruling last month that most of the sweeping tariffs the Administration imposed on imports since the start of Trump's second presidential term were illegal.

"The decision that mattered most to me was TARIFFS!" Trump wrote. "The Court knew where I stood, how badly I wanted this Victory for our Country, and instead decided to, potentially, give away Trillions of Dollars to Countries and Companies who have been taking advantage of the United States for decades." But the President falsely claimed the Supreme Court gave him the "absolute right" to charge the tariffs in "another form" -- something Trump has repeatedly suggested but the six-justice majority did not entertain -- and he said his Administration has "already started" to pursue that.

Trump then thanked Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and his own appointee Brett Kavanaugh -- all of whom dissented in the tariff ruling -- for "their wisdom and courage," while sharply criticizing the court's majority. While Trump did not mention particular justices, Trump bristled at how "they openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them to the highest position in the Land, a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and go out of their way, with bad and wrongful rulings and intentions, to prove how honest,' independent,' and legitimate' they are." ...


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-17 09:48 PM | Reply

How about ---- YOU, -------

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-03-17 10:46 PM | Reply

@#3

Well, that seems to be substantially what Chief Justice Roberts said to Pres Trump.

But with different wording, and not mentioning Pres Trump by name. :)

#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-18 12:01 AM | Reply

Meanwhile the citizens are surveilled and harassed on a daily basis and not a peep.

But don't hurt the justices feelings.

#5 | Posted by fresno500 at 2026-03-18 05:58 AM | Reply

Given an assassination attempt was made against Kavanaugh (thanks, Schumer) he's not wrong.

#6 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 10:55 AM | Reply

Roberts gave Pedo 47 the green light to assassinate police officers if he doesn't like the outcome of an election.

#7 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-03-18 11:12 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

Given an assassination attempt was made against Kavanaugh (thanks, Schumer) he's not wrong.

#6 | Posted by BellRinger

There wasn't an attempt. Funny how you have to skew things so hard to keep the faux victim complex running smoothly.

#8 | Posted by jpw at 2026-03-18 11:33 AM | Reply

Sorry, John, if you look like a corrupt, unethical institution acting as a political body you're going to get called out for it.

And that calling out will inevitably go beyond criticizing specific opinions.

#9 | Posted by jpw at 2026-03-18 11:34 AM | Reply

" There wasn't an attempt.

#8 | POSTED BY JPW AT 2026-03-18 11:33 AM | FLAG: "

He flew in from another state, bought all sorts of equipment to do the job and then chickened out when he saw Marshall's at the house.
And he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his actions. But yeah, you be you and act like it was absolutely nothing. You are such an unAmerican piece of #*_]3

#10 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 11:44 AM | Reply

Patricide Jeff just admitted there was no attempt.

#11 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-03-18 11:45 AM | Reply

" Sorry, John, if you look like a corrupt, unethical institution acting as a political body you're going to get called out for it."

The only reason lefties view it that way is because the court delivered political victories they couldn't achieve legislatively. Almost all of the current coutrt's controversial' rulings allow for a legislative remedy. But Dems/left are too lazy to go through the messy process of legislating and they know they can never get most of their unpopular shht passed under any circumstance so they flail at the one institution that no longer does their bidding.

#12 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 11:47 AM | Reply

That wasn't an attempt you hyperventilating cooze.

The only reason lefties view it that way is because the court delivered political victories they couldn't achieve legislatively.

No, you f*&^ idiot, it's not.

#13 | Posted by jpw at 2026-03-18 12:14 PM | Reply

" That wasn't an attempt you hyperventilating cooze"

So, you are totally cool with it? Did you cry when he was sentenced to 8 years? Are you pissed that he chickened out? The fact that Marshall's were even needed doesn't seem like a problem to you?

#14 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 12:22 PM | Reply

" No, you f*&^ idiot, it's not.

#13 | POSTED BY JPW AT 2026-03-18 12:14 PM | FLAG: "

Yeah it really is.

#15 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 12:22 PM | Reply

Roberts in complicit in everything that has lead us here, so maybe he should take a step back and do some self evaluation.

#16 | Posted by GalaxiePete at 2026-03-18 12:22 PM | Reply

#16. The court was never designed to deliver political outcomes. It was designed to call balls and strikes. Ever since judiciall activism took hold in the 50's it turned that paradigm upside down. The left loved it because the court was delivering political victories for them that they could never dream of achieving at the ballot box. Now that the court has a majority that takes an originalism approach to jurisprudence the left has to try and destroy the entire institution.

#17 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 12:29 PM | Reply

Now that the court has a majority that takes an originalism approach to jurisprudence the left has to try and destroy the entire institution.

#17 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Some would argue the majority is not taking an "originalist approach" at all but is actually practicing "common law constitutionalism", using a mix of history, structure, and their own conceptions of the "common good" rather than a strict adherence to 18th-century original meaning.

Even some fellow judges argue that the Court uses history as a "veneer" for subjective value judgments. This is often called "law office history," where justices select historical facts that support a desired outcome while ignoring conflicting evidence.

You are not fooling anyone with your agitprop and lies but you.

#18 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-18 12:40 PM | Reply

"It was designed to call balls and strikes."

Wrong

Courts are to resolve conflicts in law that result in injured parties by applying a remedy.

IOW for the court to become involved there needs to be an injured party and the court must be able to remedy said injury.

the current court has been one of the most politically activist courts in our nation's history.

this corrupt court has pulled decisions out of whole cloth and indeed lied to reach political decisions (Kennedy v Bremerton BoE).

Ex. The Biden loan forgiveness case.

There was NO injury by the plaintiffs in the case.

The named plaintiff specifically said they did not want to participate in the lawsuit and in fact were making money and not losing money due to Biden's loan forgiveness. Therefore there was NO injury for the court to remedy.

The only entity that could conceivably be considered injured would have been Congress whose spending authority may have been considered damaged.

Yet Congress is an equal branch of government and has their own power to address federal branch overreach.

The Supreme Court by accepting the case and ruling as they did took the role of the legislative branch and LEGISLATED that Biden was not spending the money as legislated. There was no injured party that would require adjudication of the law (i.e. interpretation of the law). No injured party, no claim that can be remedied. That is the essence of legislating from the bench.

Major Questions doctrine is just a fancy way of stealing power

This has been explained to Jeff numerous times but jeff being jeff....

#19 | Posted by truthhurts at 2026-03-18 12:55 PM | Reply

Now that the court has a majority that takes an originalism approach to jurisprudence the left has to try and destroy the entire institution.

Originalism is a lie and even if it weren't, is an inherently unjust way to govern.

Example

In 1787 women and people of color had zero political power and therefor any laws written at the time would have had zero consideration of their rights or interests. As such the laws as "originally" written conceived and justified would be inherently misogynistic and racist. That is a simple fact.

To rely in 2026 on laws written, conceived and justified on the opinions, conditions and legal theory of inherently misogynistic and racist times results, without fail, that women and people of color have fewer rights, are essentially, second class citizens.

Example. The Dodds decision relied upon historic considerations of abortions and the rights of women to terminate pregnancies. These were times when women had zero rights, were considered property of the males in their lives and when science was far less advanced to understand the biological processes. So, the law as interpreted in Dodd in 2022 was based on considerations of "law" or customs from when had no impact om the "law" and little if any on custom. This is inherent misogyny. A woman today, whose rights are based on interpretations of laws that were promulgated and passed when women had no rights means women's rights TODAY are less inherently fair.

That is a simple fact.

#20 | Posted by truthhurts at 2026-03-18 01:04 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Twoothy conveniently ignores amendments that have been passed and laws that have been passed granting rights that certainly didn't exist prior to the Emancipation Proclamation thus demonstrating profound ignorance about originalism jurisprudence.

#21 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 01:07 PM | Reply

I did no such thing dumbass. I am explaining to YOU this court's concept of originalism. They specifically denied abortion is a right because it wasn't spelled out in either the constitution or the amendments and used the inherently misogynistic interpretation of history and tradition to reach their decision. Thomas said the same concept should apply to gay sex and contraceptives (conveniently ignoring racial intermarriage), meaning he and likely soon a majority on the court will soon rule that these unwritten rights aren't actually rights even though the constitution specifically states that unwritten rights belong to the people.

The only profoundly ignorant person around here is you. and you are also a liar on top of that.

#22 | Posted by truthhurts at 2026-03-18 01:13 PM | Reply

Dingaling conveniently ignores the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which are often viewed as a "second founding" that CORRECTED the original 1787 document's betrayal of liberty by accepting slavery. The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, the 14th (1868) granted citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th (1870) prohibited voting discrimination.

These were changes to the original constitution. The changes were authorized by the constitution.. As designed.

The constitution was designed to be adjusted according to conditions on the ground.

The framers of the Constitution realized that change and reform would be necessary over time, and in Article V they spelled out several processes for amending this core document of the republic.

#23 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-18 01:17 PM | Reply

"Originalism is a lie and even if it weren't, is an inherently unjust way to govern."

Exactly. Unjust and stupid. And not the way the constitution was designed to be. Which is obviously why article V was included.

Originally. Article V was designed to ensure that the Constitution could be updated to meet changing times, but with a high threshold to ensure stability and widespread consensus.

Limitations: No amendment prior to 1808 could affect the first and fourth clauses of Section 9, Article I (regarding the slave trade and direct taxes).

So after 1808 no other limits on what could be changed.

According to the Original Constitution.

#24 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-03-18 01:35 PM | Reply

" . They specifically denied abortion is a right because it wasn't spelled out in either the constitution or the amendments and used the inherently misogynistic interpretation of history and tradition to reach their decision"

Even some of abortions biggest supporters on the left who are legal scholars have admitted that roe was poorly adjudicated. You using " mysoginistic" is just playing the victim card.

#25 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 01:52 PM | Reply

" rule that these unwritten rights aren't actually rights even though the constitution specifically states that unwritten rights belong to the people."

You have a long history of doomsday predictions that never materialize. I remember how you went ballistic over the court overturning Chevron and all of the doomsday scenarios you predicted that haven't happened.

#26 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 01:53 PM | Reply

" Originally. Article V was designed to ensure that the Constitution could be updated to meet changing times, but with a high threshold to ensure stability and widespread consensus."

It's called amendments' and the Constitution has 27 of them.

#27 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-03-18 01:55 PM | Reply

Chief Justice John Roberts warned Tuesday that personal attacks on Supreme Court justices and lower court judges are "dangerous"

Well John, don't come crying now that the monster you created is now all of a sudden turning on you.

CHOAD buddy.

#28 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-03-18 02:03 PM | Reply


"Originalism is a lie and even if it weren't, is an inherently unjust way to govern."

How is it unjust?


Some would argue the majority is not taking an "originalist approach" at all but is actually practicing "common law constitutionalism", using a mix of history, structure, and their own conceptions of the "common good" rather than a strict adherence to 18th-century original meaning.

Who? Who are those making that argument? Would like to read their assertions.

#29 | Posted by oneironaut at 2026-03-18 02:09 PM | Reply

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