Roberts slams Schumer for 'dangerous' rhetoric against justices

Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday for public remarks that seemed to threaten unspecified retaliation against Trump-appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh if they vote to rein in abortion rights.

“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,” Roberts said in a written statement distributed to reporters. “All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”

The chief justice’s brush-back was triggered by pointed comments Schumer made earlier Wednesday as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments on its first abortion-rights case of the Trump era: a challenge to a Louisiana law that limits abortion access by requiring that providers have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

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