Roberts’s remarks added to a growing focus on threats against judges and the tone of public attacks on the courts, following renewed criticism by Trump and other administration figures in recent days. Speaking Tuesday at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, the chief justice said that legal criticism aimed at judicial decisions can be appropriate, but that criticism that turns personal creates risk.
In remarks at the event, Roberts drew a distinction between critique of judicial opinions and hostility aimed at judges themselves. He said that criticism of judicial opinions “comes with the territory,” but he warned that personally directed hostility is “dangerous” and “it’s got to stop,” according to the text of his comments reported by the Associated Press.
Roberts also said he has been careful in past remarks not to single out any one political perspective. In Tuesday’s remarks, he again framed the issue more broadly, emphasizing that hostility against judges should not be interpreted as coming from one particular faction.
On the security side of the issue, Roberts acknowledged “serious threats” by pointing to figures reported by the U.S. Marshals Service. The service, which is responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, an increase from the previous year. Roberts said Congress has responded by increasing funding for judges’ security.
Rosenthal, the U.S. District Judge who shared the stage with Roberts, thanked him and said the chief justice’s comments mattered to judges who receive threats. Roberts’s warning comes as public officials and allies have increasingly criticized court rulings that block or limit administration actions.
Trump’s most recent criticism of the judiciary came Sunday on his Truth Social, according to the Associated Press report. After a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg quashed subpoenas the Justice Department issued to the Federal Reserve, Trump wrote that Boasberg is “a Wacky, Nasty, Crooked, and totally Out of Control Judge,” and added personal language attacking the judge.
In the backdrop of Tuesday’s remarks, Roberts had also taken a different view last year when Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment, after the judge blocked additional deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The new remarks underscored that Roberts had already signaled limits on how public attacks should target judges personally rather than the rulings themselves.
The Associated Press report also described Trump’s broader pattern of criticism of the courts and the justices who ruled against his administration in a separate case involving global tariffs. The president has previously questioned the patriotism of the members of the court who ruled against him, including by singling out two justices he previously appointed.
The executive branch’s criticism of judges has also extended to administration officials. After a U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston blocked the administration’s effort to reshape vaccines policy, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted on X criticizing Murphy’s decisions and describing the rulings as “activist,” along with comments tying the dispute to repeated appeals.
While Roberts did not single out Trump or any other individual in Tuesday’s remarks, his comments landed as Trump and administration allies continued to attack specific judges following rulings that limited administration action. By focusing on personally directed hostility as a danger, Roberts framed the issue as one involving judicial independence and the protection of judges as public officers.
When Roberts called for the hostility to stop, he was delivering a warning aimed at the boundary between criticizing courts’ work and escalating attacks toward the people who perform that work. The chief justice’s remarks came as reported threats to judges were rising and Congress increased funding for security, according to the Associated Press account.