'It's obligatory': Former federal judge says John Roberts should be 'condemning' Trump
Retired U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig on MSNBC on May 28, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)
During an MSNBC segment on the issue of threats against judges, former U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Luttig said Wednesday that it was "obligatory" for the Supreme Court, through the Chief Justice, to be "out nationally condemning" President Donald Trump.
Host Nicole Wallace asked Luttig if Chief Justice John Roberts should participate in similar conversations about the safety of federal judges.
"His problem is to condemn the president of the United States. As far as I'm concerned, so be it. That apparently is not the chief justice's viewpoint, nor the court's as a whole, but the court is acquiescing in this," he said.
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"And there is nothing more important than the safety of federal judges to the Supreme Court of the United States and to the nation," the George H.W. Bush-appointed judge continued.
Esther Salas, a U.S. District Judge of the District Court for the District of New Jersey, was asked the same question. Her son, Daniel Anderl, was the victim of a fatal attack at her home in 2020.
Daniel was killed by an assailant disguised as a delivery driver, who also injured her husband, Mark Anderl.
In response to the question, Sales said, "I have so much respect and love for all my colleagues, and so I can only speak as Daniel's mom."
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"I can only do what I feel compelled to do as his mother, and that is to speak up and to talk about the grave concerns that I have for this nation and for democracy and for my brothers and sisters on the bench."
"I feel compelled, with Mark's blessing, to be vocal, to be strong, to be adamant, and to appeal to America's sense of right in terms of what is right for this country, for the justice system, for the constitutional framework that we have all prospered under for 200 plus years," she added.
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