Making his first public appearance since writing the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision on health care, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Friday joked, but declined to discuss the landmark ruling during a 30-minute question and answer session.
Appearing at a judicial conference outside Pittsburgh, Roberts answered questions from two lower court judges and an audience of lawyers.

The panel discussion – “A Conversation with the Chief Justice of the United States” – had been scheduled long before anyone knew that Roberts would author the Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority opinion in the contentious legal challenge to President Obama’s health care law. And the two judges who led the discussion – the chief judges of the District’s federal court and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit – did not press Roberts about his role in the ruling.
Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth asked Roberts if it ever “bothered” the chief justice that he couldn’t address critics of his opinions. “No,” Roberts said, quickly pivoting in his leather chair to take the next question from Chief Judge David B. Sentelle of the appeals court. His answer drew knowing laughter from the audience of about 325 defense attorneys, prosecutors, corporate lawyers, academics and judges.
At another point, Roberts jokingly acknowledged the controversy over his ruling by saying he planned to teach a legal course in coming weeks in Malta, “an impregnable island fortress … It seemed like a good idea.” His response drew intense laughter from the audience.
During the 30-minute talk, Roberts stuck closely to court business, describing how he assigns opinions to his fellow justices cases – he likes to parcel them out evenly. And he discussed how the “most surprising” aspect of his job was the high number of overseas delegations that swing by his office to get advice and say hello.
He also said he warned the court’s law clerks not to mention their work – even innocuous references about being busy – though Twitter, Facebook or other social media outlets.
Though he declined to discuss the health care ruling, Roberts said he hoped people would look back in 50 years and describe the court’s legacy under his tenure in this way: “We did our jobs according to the Constitution and to preserving equal justice under the law. There is no better legacy you can ask for.”
Roberts spoke that the conclusion of the Circuit’s bi-annual conference, which took place at a resort in Farmington, Pa. Upon being introduced for the talk and at a dinner Thursday night, Roberts received standing ovations from more than 300 people. Some said their intense applause was in response to his opinion that saved President Obama’s health care law.
“There was a general feeling of relief that partisanship doesn’t have anything to do with what the court rules,” Lamberth said when asked about the intense applause for the chief justice.