Litigation

Chief Justice Roberts ?Invisible??

By Peter Hardin

The upcoming fifth anniversary of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s’ first taking his seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has prompted veteran court-watcher Linda Greenhouse to offer an unconventional analysis.

In an Opinionator blog piece in the New York Times headlined, “An Invisible Chief Justice,” the former Supreme Court correspondent recalls her expectation when he was confirmed that Justice Roberts would “become the new young public face of the Supreme Court.”

But the facts suggest otherwise. A Pew Research Center survey showed that when people were asked to pick from among four names and identify the court’s current chief justice, only 28 percent selected Justice Roberts.

His low public profile is “a bit of a mystery,” Greenhouse writes, especially given debate over the direction of the court under Justice Roberts and President Obama’s criticizing the justices to their face over the court’s Citizens United decision this year. Greenhouse tries to unravel the mystery with this thought:

“He is an intensely private person, and it may not be too unfair to suggest that in his heart of hearts, he?d like to take the Supreme Court private as well. After all, it was his decision, rich in unfortunate symbolism and imposed over vigorous internal opposition, to take a step that seems as amazing now as it did when it was announced four months ago: to keep the public from entering the Supreme Court by the front door.” (To read about that action, see Gavel Grab).

Greenhouse also asserts that he was an “accidental chief justice.”  President George W. Bush initially selected him to fill a vacancy created by the retirement announcement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, then appointed him as chief justice following the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).