The real threat to an independent judiciary is its increase politicization, not President Donald Trump's criticism of federal judges who have ruled against his executive orders, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday.
"It's right for the president, as he's done historically over the centuries, to express opinions over judicial opinions," Sessions told "CBS This Morning." "They have a lifetime appointment. Their pay can't be cut and their decisions can be commented on."
Further, Sessions said, he thinks that Trump was justified for his criticism of U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco, who issued a temporary ruling in a lawsuit challenging the president's executive order to withhold funding from sanctuary cities.
"The one that he criticized, I think, was wrong," said Sessions.
Orrick's court falls under the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in February against Trump's first travel ban.
Sessions said he's practiced before judges in the United States for many years, and he has the "highest regard for them," but at the same time, they're not above being criticized.
"The greatest threat to the judiciary is if judges become more political," said Sessions. "People cease to believe they're deciding opinions based on law and the fact."
Where the Ninth Circuit itself is concerned, Sessions said he thinks some of its judges "have gone a bit too far in practicing the law as it is written and advancing an agenda they may have personally."
He said he believes judges should be appointed and concerned to the Ninth Circuit who will be "responsible and more restrained in their answers," but at the same time, if the president is
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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