Trump spars with SC chief justice
WASHINGTON: US Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts has criticised President Donald Trump for claiming that federal judges are influenced by the politics of presidents that appointed them.
Defending the independence of the judiciary in a rare public rebuke of the president, 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.
“That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump had lashed out against a federal judge of San Francisco, Jon S Tigar, who had stayed his asylum ban.
He had called him an “Obama judge”, clearly implying he had ruled against the order because he had been appointed by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.
The chief justice’s public rebuke did unsettle the president, who prides himself as a counterpuncher.
He sought to push back in a string of tweets over Wednesday and Thursday.
“Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,” he said in one of the tweets.
But there were no further comments from Roberts.
The chief justice, who was appointed by President George W Bush, a Republican, has been attacked by Trump before.
As a candidate he had called the chief justice an “absolute disaster”.
But Roberts had not responded then and not in subsequent instances of attacks on judges.
Trump had questioned the impartiality of a judge who was dealing with lawsuits against now-defunct Trump University, and had suggested the bias came from the fact that the judge was of Mexican descent.
The chief justice’s remarks were also being seen in the context of the bitter political fight that took place recently over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s second nominee to the Supreme Court.
His confirmation tilted the balance on the nine-member bench in favour of conservatives.
Experts expect chief justice Roberts might become the swing vote, a slot earlier occupied by justice Anthony Kennedy, whose retirement paved the way for Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Trump also vented against the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, to which Tigar belongs and which has reversed many of his administration’s most controversial orders such as the so-called “Muslim travel ban” and an order to rescind Deferred Action against Childhood Arrivals.
“Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security,” he tweeted.
Trump suggested the high court, which deals with federal appeals pertaining to nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions, is biased against his administration and needs to be split up to mitigate its influence.