Josh Gerstein for Politico:

Chief Justice John Roberts described the rule of law as “endangered” and warned against “trashing the justices,” but speaking in Washington Monday he didn’t point fingers directly at President Donald Trump or his allies for publicly excoriating judges who’ve ruled against aspects of Trump’s agenda.

“The notion that rule of law governs is the basic proposition,” Roberts said during an appearance at Georgetown Law. “Certainly as a matter of theory, but also as a matter of practice, we need to stop and reflect every now and then how rare that is, certainly rare throughout history, and rare in the world today.”

As many legal experts express grave concern about Trump’s attacks on law firms and with several federal judges advancing inquiries into whether the administration is refusing to comply with court orders, Roberts took a longer-term view Monday. He blamed schools for shortchanging civics education and leaving students with little understanding of the structure of U.S. government or the role of the courts.

“That’s really too bad,” the chief justice told graduating students at the law school. “We’re developing a situation where a whole group of young people is growing up having no real sense about how our system of justice works.”

Roberts suggested some recent verbal attacks on the justices had gone too far, but he gave no specific examples. “The court has obviously made mistakes throughout its history, and those should be criticized, so long as it is in terms of the decision, really, and not ad hominem against the justices. I just think that doesn’t do any good,” the chief justice said.