John Roberts (Supreme Court)

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John Roberts
Image of John Roberts

Nonpartisan

Supreme Court of the United States
Tenure

2005 - Present

Years in position

19

Prior offices
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard University, 1976

Law

Harvard Law, 1979

Personal
Birthplace
Buffalo, N.Y.


John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was first nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush (R) on July 19, 2005, to fill the vacancy of Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired in 2005. President Bush withdrew his nomination of Roberts to be an associate justice when Chief Justice William Rehnquist passed away in September 2005 and Bush then renominated Roberts to be the 17th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The full U.S. Senate confirmed Roberts by a vote of 78-22.[1] At the time of his nomination, he was the youngest person to serve as chief justice in a century.[2]

Roberts began his legal career by clerking for appellate Judge Henry Friendly and Rehnquist. Roberts spent two decades working in Washington, D.C., under the administrations of Ronald Reagan (R) and George H.W. Bush (R) and in private practice at Hogan & Hartson.[3] Before joining the Supreme Court, Roberts served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2003 to 2005.

As chief justice, Roberts has described his approach as trying to build more unanimity and working to issue fewer 5-4 decisions.[4][5] Although considered a conservative member of the court, Politico noted that Roberts has sometimes sided with the court's liberal justices. Josh Gerstein wrote that "Roberts’ tendency to side with liberals in some cases embraced by many Republican activists seems to grate on many conservative lawyers, including some who helped lead the fight to confirm him."[6]

The Associated Press' Colleen Slevin wrote that "Roberts has spoken out repeatedly about the importance of the judiciary’s independence and to rebut perceptions of the court as a political institution not much different than Congress or the presidency."[7]

Roberts’ notable opinions include the Affordable Care Act cases King v. Burwell and National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and the plurality opinion in the racial classification in school admissions case Parents Involved v. Seattle.

Professional career

Executive branch service

Following his time as a clerk for William Rehnquist, Roberts entered into a number of executive branch appointments. He served in the administrations of Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Reagan administration

Roberts served as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1982. His work in that position included advising the attorney general, writing speeches, and representing the attorney general in meetings with executive branch and state and local government officials.

From 1982 to 1986, Roberts served as associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan's (R) White House Office of Counsel under Fred F. Fielding. In this position, he reviewed bills submitted to the president by Congress, drafted and reviewed executive orders, and performed general legal reviews of presidential activities.[8][9]

George H.W. Bush administration

Roberts served as principal deputy solicitor general in the United States Department of Justice from 1989 to 1993. As principal deputy solicitor general, Roberts briefed and argued a variety of cases before the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of the U.S. government.[9]

Private practice

From 1986 to 1989, Roberts practiced law in Washington, D.C. as an associate at Hogan & Hartson LLP. He made partner in 1988 while building a civil litigation practice focused on appellate matters. Roberts left the firm in 1989 to serve as principal deputy solicitor general in President George H.W. Bush's (R) administration. He returned in 1993 to lead the firm's appellate practice group.[10]

Roberts argued his first case before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1989. As a court-appointed attorney, he successfully represented his client against the United States government in United States v. Halper, a double jeopardy case decided by a unanimous court.[11] Roberts would ultimately argue a total of 39 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, winning 25 of them.

Early life and education

Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 27, 1955.[12] He was raised as, and continues to be, a practicing Roman Catholic. He attended private schools as a child and graduated from La Lumiere School— at the time an all-boys Roman Catholic boarding school—in LaPorte, Indiana, in 1973.[13][14][15]

Harvard College and law school

Roberts attended Harvard for both his undergraduate and law degrees. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1976. He wrote his thesis on British liberalism in the early 20th century and graduated summa cum laude. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979. At Harvard Law School, he served as managing editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.[16][9]

Approach to the law

Generally considered to be a practitioner of judicial restraint, Roberts most often votes with the conservative wing of the court. As chief justice, Roberts has described his approach as trying to build more unanimity and working to issue fewer 5-4 decisions.[17][18] Oyez, a law project created by Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, said that Roberts is an "avid supporter of the belief that the role of the court is an umpire, meaning that the role is to interpret the rules, not create them."[19] Although considered a conservative member of the court, Politico noted that Roberts has sometimes sided with the court's liberal justices. Josh Gerstein wrote that "Roberts’ tendency to side with liberals in some cases embraced by many Republican activists seems to grate on many conservative lawyers, including some who helped lead the fight to confirm him."[20]

Martin-Quinn score

Roberts' Martin-Quinn score following the 2023-2024 term was 0.51, making him the sixth-most conservative justice on the court at that time. Martin-Quinn scores were developed by political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn from the University of Michigan, and measure the justices of the Supreme Court along an ideological continuum. The further from zero on the scale, the more conservative (>0) or liberal (<0) the justice. The chart below details every justice's Martin-Quinn score for the 2023-2024 term. These are preliminary scores provided by Kevin Quinn that may differ slightly from the final version of the scores that Martin and Quinn will make publicly available at a later date.

See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ United States Senate, "Supreme Court Nominations, present-1789," accessed April 13, 2021
  2. ↑ Oyez, "John G. Roberts, Jr.," accessed July 12, 2023
  3. ↑ Oyez, "John G. Roberts, Jr.," accessed February 1, 2019
  4. ↑ The Atlantic, "Roberts's rules," January 1, 2007
  5. ↑ New York Times, "Compromise at the Supreme Court veils its rifts," July 1, 2014
  6. ↑ Politico, "Conservatives blast Roberts as turncoat," June 27, 2019
  7. ↑ AP News, "Chief Justice John Roberts defends legitimacy of court," September 10, 2022
  8. ↑ Time, "Bush picks a replacement for Harriet Miers," January 8, 2007
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 White House Archives, "Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.," accessed July 11, 2014
  10. ↑ Hogan & Hartson, "Former Hogan & Hartson partner John G. Roberts, Jr. confirmed as chief justice of the United States," archived October 9, 2008
  11. ↑ Justia, "United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435 (1989)," accessed July 11, 2014
  12. ↑ Wargs.com, "Ancestry of John G. Roberts compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner," accessed July 11, 2014
  13. ↑ La Lumiere "Notable alumni of La Lumiere School," accessed July 11, 2014
  14. ↑ New York Times, "Court nominee's life is rooted in faith and respect for law," July 21, 2005
  15. ↑ As of September 2020, La Lumiere School was a coed school.
    Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Brett Balhoff, La Lumiere School science department chair," September 17, 2020
  16. ↑ The Harvard Crimson, "Two alums may be tapped for court," July 8, 2005
  17. ↑ The Atlantic, "Roberts's rules," January 1, 2007
  18. ↑ New York Times, "Compromise at the Supreme Court veils its rifts," July 1, 2014
  19. ↑ Oyez, "John G. Roberts, Jr.," accessed August 12, 2019
  20. ↑ Politico, "Conservatives blast Roberts as turncoat," June 27, 2019
  21. ↑ CNN, "I come with 'no agenda,' Roberts tells hearing," September 13, 2004
  22. ↑ Washington Times, "Pat Leahy, judiciary committee chairman?" October 16, 2006
  23. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2016 and key takeaways," accessed April 16, 2018
  24. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2017 and key takeaways," accessed October 4, 2018
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Empirical SCOTUS, "2023 Stat Review," July 1, 2024
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Empirical SCOTUS, "Another One Bites the Dust: End of 2022/2023 Supreme Court Term Statistics," November 16, 2023
  27. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 term," July 2, 2021
  28. ↑ Due to a change in the 2020 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  29. ↑ Due to a change in the 2021 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  30. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "2020-21 Stat pack: Frequency in the majority," July 2, 2021
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court's 2021-22 term," July 1, 2022
  32. ↑ The Supreme Court Database, "Analysis," accessed December 18, 2023
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe, decided June 6, 2024
  34. ↑ 34.00 34.01 34.02 34.03 34.04 34.05 34.06 34.07 34.08 34.09 34.10 34.11 34.12 34.13 34.14 34.15 34.16 34.17 34.18 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  35. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Allen, Alabama Secretary of State, et al. V. Milligan et al., "Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama," accessed June 8, 2023
  36. ↑ SCOTUSblog, Supreme Court upholds Section 2 of Voting Rights Act, accessed June 8, 2023
  37. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named opinion
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Shoop v. Twyford, decided June 21, 2022
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 U.S. Supreme Court, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, decided June 29, 2021
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 United States Supreme Court, United States v. Arthrex, Inc., decided June 21, 2021
  41. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Department of Commerce v. New York," June 27, 2019
  42. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek: Opinion of the Court," June 27, 2019
  43. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, et. al.," June 21, 2019
  44. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Lamps Plus, Inc., et al. v. Varela, April 24, 2019
  45. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, King v. Burwell, June 25, 2015
  46. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius," accessed July 11, 2014
  47. ↑ The Atlantic Wire, "Rand Paul wants John Roberts to sign up for Obamacare," October 21, 2013
  48. ↑ Cornell University Law School, "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1," accessed July 11, 2014
  49. ↑ Open Jurist, "Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority," accessed July 9, 2014
  50. ↑ Open Jurist, "Rancho Viejo Llc v. A Norton," accessed July 9, 2014

Political offices
Preceded by
- 		Supreme Court of the United States
2005-Present		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
- 		United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
2003-2005		 Succeeded by
-


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