HERSHEY, PA. — Chief Justice John Roberts defended the U.S. Supreme Court's impartiality at a conference for lawyers and judges in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and said he will consider measures over the summer to shorten oral arguments. He addressed public perceptions of the court, criticism of the judiciary, and the length of courtroom proceedings.

"I think at a very basic level, people think we're making policy decisions, [that] we're saying we think this is what things should be as opposed to this is what the law provides. I think they view us as truly political actors, which I don't think is an accurate understanding of what we do. I would say that's the main difficulty," Roberts said.

He said those rulings are based on the court's best effort to interpret what the Constitution means and how it applies. "One of the things we have to do is issue decisions that are unpopular," he said.

Roberts said criticism of the judiciary should be limited to the substance of decisions and not directed at individual judges, warning that heated rhetoric and personalized criticism can endanger judges. "You hope it's intelligent criticism, but it doesn't have to be. It's a free country and I certainly don't object to it and I don't think my colleagues do either," he said.

On oral arguments, he said, "I think it has blown up a little bit. It's too long." He said he will consider measures over the summer to shorten the proceedings. He also addressed the role of precedent, saying that overruling precedent without care causes the broader legal system to suffer.

Roberts is a member of the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, which has moved federal law to the right on issues such as abortion and gun rights. The court has in several cases weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including a ruling the previous week that split the court 6-3 along ideological lines and prompted opposition from left-leaning groups. That decision prompted Republican-led states to consider last-minute redrawing of their Congressional maps to reduce or eliminate districts created to increase Black voters' representation.