Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


US Supreme Court Not Politicized, says Chief Justice Roberts

Reuters

   NEW YORK - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking at a New York
   synagogue on Tuesday night, lamented the perception that the Supreme
   Court is becoming politicized and that the justices' decisions are
   guided primarily by their partisan affiliation.

   Roberts' concerns about the impression of the court comes during a
   highly-charged political moment when the judiciary is getting hit from
   all sides. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized federal
   courts and judges who have blocked his policies, while some Democratic
   politicians have implied that the court's conservative majority is
   motivated mainly by politics instead of interpreting the law.

   "When you live in a polarized political environment, people tend to see
   everything in those terms. That's not how we at the court function and
   the results in our cases do not suggest otherwise," said Roberts before
   hundreds in attendance at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in
   Manhattan.

   Roberts in November rebuked Trump after the Republican president called
   a judge who ruled against his policy barring asylum for certain
   immigrants an "Obama judge."

   In August, a handful of Democratic senators filed a brief in a firearms
   case the justices had agreed to hear, suggesting the high court was too
   influenced by politics. "The Supreme Court is not well. And the people
   know it," the brief said.

.