FARMINGTON, Pa. (June 29, 2012)--U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts joked Friday that he'll be spending some time in "an impregnable island fortress" now that the Supreme Court has ended a session in which he cast the decisive vote upholding President Barack Obama's health care law.

Responding to a question about his summer plans Friday, Roberts quipped that he thought his planned trip to Malta to teach a class was a "good idea."

He delivered the joke Friday at a federal court conference at a posh Pennsylvania resort.

Roberts declined to answer a question about the landmark opinion issued Thursday, but said he hopes the court will be remembered for "protecting equal justice under the law."

Roberts was speaking in Farmington, Pa., at a conference hosted by the Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit.