RWU Law Meets (and Quizzes) the Chief Justice of the United States
On February 12, our “Supreme Semester” hit its stride when 130 RWU Law students enjoyed a private audience with Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. “The Chief” fielded student questions for about an hour.
The questions were all excellent (indeed, the Chief said so at a later luncheon attended by federal and state judges and other leaders of the bar). Here is just a sampling of the lively Q & A…
A.J. Evans (3L) opened by asking whether – given the highly specialized nature of certain areas of law, for example, maritime law – it might not be a good idea to establish specialized courts. The Chief Justice said no, declaring himself “totally opposed” to specialty courts, such as the constitutional courts of Europe. “I think it’s very good that we get used to acting as a Court together on mundane matters,” he explained, noting that – while the media and public tend to focus on 5-4 decisions in cases involving divisive social issues – the vast majority of Supreme Court’s work involves narrow legal matters that would “bore you to tears,” but yield 9-0 decisions that help build camaraderie on the Court.
Kim Ahern (2L) asked the Chief whether – given the political turmoil surrounding his and other Supreme Court nominations in recent years – he felt the process should change. The Chief Justice said he believed a nominee should give “no hints, no forecasts, no previews” (quoting Justice Ginsberg, in fact) of how he or she might vote on issues that might come before the Court. Similarly, while arguing for the importance of “depoliticizing the judicial branch to the greatest extent possible,” the Chief admitted that the Court has had a political element from the beginning. To illustrate, he offered an entertaining sketch of Marbury v. Madison, in which Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall handed Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson a nominal victory, while seizing for the federal judiciary the much bigger prize: controlling the interpretation of the Constitution.
Hala Furst (1L) asked what the Chief Justice hoped would be the legacy of the “Roberts Court.” After joking that it is “a little early” in his tenure to be thinking about legacy, he replied that the question itself “presupposes a forward-looking agenda,” adding that “I don’t have an agenda.”
Other questions were in a decidedly lighter vein, as when 1L David Rozen asked if Chief Justice Roberts would continue the practice of adding Gilbert & Sullivan-inspired gold stripes to the sleeves of his robes, as was adopted by his predecessor Chief Justice Rehnquist (he won’t).
To round out a great day for RWU Law, in the afternoon the Chief presided over the swearing-in ceremony for the Federal Bar and 43 of our graduates, who had the unique experience of being welcomed to a high rung of the professional ladder by the person at the top of the ladder.
Here are some photos of the event:
