US Chief Justice John Roberts made headlines in the US media after saying he needed to go to a fortress and would therefore be heading for Malta to teach a law summer class.

The judge has just endured a tough spell of scrutiny over his decision to uphold President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

Responding to a question about his summer break at a judges’ conference in Pennsylvania on Friday, Dr Roberts said he planned to teach a class for two weeks in Malta.

He joked that following the ruling, taking a trip to the “impregnable island fortress” was a “good idea”.

On Thursday, the conservative-leaning leader of the court cast the decisive vote to uphold Mr Obama’s healthcare law.

During the next two weeks he will be taking part in a summer programme offered by Boston’s New England Law. He will also serve as a faculty member at the University of Malta’s Foundation for International Studies.

Together with Harvard Professor Richard Lazarus, Dr Roberts will be teaching a credit called the US Supreme Court in Historical Perspective.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.