Court Battles

Roberts on personal attacks against judges: ‘It’s got to stop’

by Zach Schonfeld - 03/17/26 2:40 PM ET

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Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday pushed back on personal attacks against judges, calling it “dangerous” and a “problem.”

“Judges around the country work very hard to get it right, and if they don’t, their opinions are subject to criticism,” Roberts said while responding to a question about handling criticism during an event at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

“But personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it’s got to stop,” he added.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal did not reference President Trump in her question, and his name never came up in the hourlong conversation

The chief justice’s answer, though, comes after the president over the weekend levied one of his most searing denouncements of the Supreme Court yet.

Railing against the justices’ 6-3 decision that invalidated his sweeping tariffs, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the court has “become little more than a weaponized and unjust Political Organization.” In a post on Truth Social, the president described Roberts and the other justices who ruled against him as “inept and embarrassing.”

Trump has also long assailed lower judges who’ve ruled against him, most recently targeting U.S. District Judge James Boasberg for blocking the Justice Department’s subpoenas in its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Speaking at the Rice University event Tuesday, Roberts said the personal attacks are not coming from “just any one political perspective.” Though he’s called out Trump specifically before, the chief justice in 2020 also condemned remarks Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made as dangerous.

“You get used to the criticism right away, and it can very much be healthy,” he said Tuesday.

“We don’t believe that we’re flawless in any way, and it’s important that our decisions are subjected to scrutiny, and they are,” Roberts added. “The problem, sometimes, is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities.”

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