Chief Justice John Roberts defended the independence of judges on Wednesday, saying it is needed to limit the power of Congress and the executive branch, especially as federal judges who have slowed President Donald Trump's plans face criticism.

"Judicial independence is very important," said Roberts, who leads the Supreme Court and all federal judges, at a meeting of judges and lawyers in his hometown.

He said that the Constitution's only new idea was creating three equal parts of government. He added that this idea doesn't work if the judges are not independent.

The 70-year-old chief justice mostly repeated what he had said before. However, his comments, which were in response to questions from another federal judge, received applause from the 600 people who came together to celebrate the 125th anniversary of federal courts in the Western District of New York.

When questioned about statements from Trump and his associates advocating for the impeachment of judges based on their rulings, Roberts primarily reiterated the declaration he made in March, stating that “Impeachment is not the appropriate method for expressing dissent with a decision.”

Roberts stated he has no intention of retiring as he approaches the 20th anniversary of his confirmation to the nation’s highest judicial body.

His arrival in his hometown occurred less than a week after Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's strong denunciation of attacks on members of the judiciary.

Speaking to a group of judges and lawyers in Puerto Rico, Jackson discussed the constant attacks, lack of respect, and criticism that judges across the country, and maybe many of you, are now dealing with every day.

In comments put on the court's website, Jackson said the attacks were a big problem that everyone knew about but didn't talk about during a speech where Trump's name was not mentioned at all.

The president, his senior helper Stephen Miller, and the rich man Elon Musk have strongly criticized judges who have stopped parts of Trump's plans. Sometimes they have attacked them in a very personal way. For example, Trump called a judge who temporarily stopped people from being sent away, using an old law from the 1700s, a 'radical left lunatic'.

There have also been worrying attempts to scare people, like sending unwanted pizza deliveries to the homes of judges and their children. Some of these deliveries were sent using the name of Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Daniel was killed at his family's home by an unhappy lawyer in 2020.

Senator Dick Durbin wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday that these deliveries are threats. He said they are meant to show that the people trying to scare the judge know where the judge lives or where their family members live.

Trump has mostly left the supreme court alone, which is considering a number of urgent challenges to lower court decisions that have not favoured him.

The president has had different results with the justices up to now. For example, on Tuesday, the court's conservative judges brought back the government's rule against transgender people serving in the military, even though people are still fighting the rule in court. The three liberal judges did not agree.

However, the court has also temporarily suspended certain deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members, applying an 18th-century wartime law. Furthermore, the justices decreed that deportations are not permissible unless individuals are afforded the opportunity to contest them judicially.

Next week, the court will listen to arguments about Trump’s order that would stop citizenship for children born in the US whose parents are in the country without permission. The Justice Department wants the court to make the lower court orders less strict so the rules can be used in more than half of the country while the cases continue.