Everything about John Roberts Supreme Court Nomination And Hearings totally explained
The
Senate hearings on the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, began on
September 12,
2005, with
U.S. Senators posing questions to Roberts, who was
nominated by
President George W. Bush to fill the vacancy of
Chief Justice of the United States.
Roberts had been nominated upon
Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death. On
September 5, President Bush announced the nomination of Roberts for the position of Chief Justice. On
September 6, President Bush formally sent notice to the
United States Senate of the new nomination and the withdrawal of Roberts' prior nomination.
On
September 29, Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice by a full Senate vote of 78-22. The 50-year old Roberts became the youngest Chief Justice since
John Marshall, who was 45 when he joined the court in
1801.
Confirmation process
Prior to naming Roberts, Bush reportedly considered a wide range of
candidates.
With the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bush withdrew Roberts' nomination for associate justice and renominated him for chief justice, with only a slight delay in his confirmation hearings to allow for Rehnquist's funeral services.
Former Senator
Fred Dalton Thompson helped to promote Roberts' nomination. The nomination was first considered by the 18-member
Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee was allowed to send the nomination to the Senate with their approval, send it to the Senate with no opinion, or decline to forward the nomination. On
September 22, the committee voted 13-5 to send Roberts' confirmation to the full Senate.
On
September 29, Roberts was confirmed by the full Senate by a vote of
78-22
. Hours after confirmation, he was sworn in by Associate Justice
John Paul Stevens at the
White House.
Role of the ABA
Nominees to the Supreme Court are evaluated by the
American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary. The opinions of the committee bind neither the President nor the Senate; however, they're generally taken into account.
The panel is composed of fifteen federal judges (but not Supreme Court Justices), including at least one from each federal judicial circuit. The body assesses the nominee "solely to professional qualifications: integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament," and offers a rating of "well qualified," "qualified," or "not qualified."
On
August 17, the ABA committee unanimously gave Roberts a "well qualified" rating.
Investigation
Judiciary Committee questionnaire
Roberts' total assets were stated as being approximately
US $6 million, with sizable investments in
XM Satellite Radio,
Dell, Inc., and
Texas Instruments. His home in
Bethesda, Maryland was valued at $1.3 million.
Hearings
How the hearings progressed
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Arlen Specter had called for a final vote by the committee on or before
September 15, but Rehnquist's death and the renomination of Roberts for Chief Justice caused a delay.first round of questioning, each Senator having 30 minutes to query the nominee. During the course of the day, Roberts answered questions from 16 of the 18 committee members, on a variety of topics. He affirmed his commitment to a constitutional right to privacy, clarified his position on civil rights during wartime, and took a conservative position on the use of international law in interpreting the U.S. Constitution.
(External Link)
On
September 14, the hearing resumed at 9:00am, with the completion of the first round of questioning, followed by the start of the second round of questioning. Questioning didn't finish this day, and was scheduled to be continued the next day.
On
September 15, the hearing again resumed at 9:00am, with the completion of the final round of questioning of Roberts. Later, the committee went into private session to discuss FBI reports on the nominee, a standard procedure followed for all nominees to federal courts. Following this, the committee heard testimony from the American Bar Association and six panels of various witnesses for the remainder of the afternoon and into early evening. The hearings were adjourned with 24 hours to remain for committee members to submit written questions to Roberts, which were to be answered by him as thoroughly as practicable.
On
September 22, the committee voted 13-5 to send Roberts' confirmation to the full Senate. Senators Biden, Durbin, Feinstein, Kennedy, and Schumer were the five "no" voters. The full 100-member Senate subsequently debated Roberts' nomination, beginning on
September 26.
The Senate voted on the nomination beginning at 11:30 a.m. EDT on
September 29, with Roberts winning confirmation by a 78-22 vote. All 55
Republicans voted to confirm Roberts; 22
Democrats, including
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member
Patrick Leahy of
Vermont, also voted to confirm Roberts, as did the one independent (
Jim Jeffords). 22 Democrats, including
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada, voted in opposition.
Questions and answers
During Judge
William Pryor's confirmation hearings for a federal bench in Atlanta, Senator
Charles Schumer said he was troubled by Pryor's "deeply held personal beliefs."
(External Link) There were predictions by some, notably the
Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights (External Link),
Notre Dame law professor Charles Rice in the
National Review (External Link), the
Center for Jewish Values and the Catholic organization
Fidelis.
(External Link), that the pattern would be repreated with Roberts' confirmation hearing. Most Rev.
Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, notes that "many people already believe that a new kind of religious discrimination is very welcome at the Capitol, even among elected officials who claim to be Catholic," concluding that "the bias against '
papism' is alive and well in America." However, others don't interpret the clause as prohibiting Senate inquiry into the religious beliefs of a nominee; rather they hold that religious inquiries by the Senate are not the application of a religious Test (or disqualification), but a valid form of inquiry into Roberts' source of values and beliefs, which they consider to be highly relevant to a position such as Supreme Court Justice.
On September 13, during the second day of confirmation hearings Senator
Arlen Specter asked Roberts whether his faith would affect his opinions on the bench. Roberts responded that "there is nothing in my personal view based on faith or other sources that would prevent me from applying the precedents of the court faithfully in accord with the principles of
stare decisis." Later the same day, he also said "my faith and my religious beliefs don't play a role in my judging. ... I look to the law. I don't look to the Bible or other religious books."
(External Link)
On September 14, Senator
Dianne Feinstein asked Roberts about the "role Catholicism would play" in his tenure as a justice. Roberts declined to endorse President Kennedy's statement that "separation of church and state is absolute," telling Feinstein, "I don't know what you mean by 'absolute.' " Some consider such questioning to be a revival of anti-Catholic bigotry reminiscent of the public concern about Catholic influence that presidential candidate
John F. Kennedy faced in 1960, and exemplified by the controversial
Blaine Amendments.
(External Link)
Adoption records
While investigating Roberts' life, the
New York Times was accused of attempting to unseal records detailing the 2000 adoption by Roberts and his wife of two Irish infants via a Latin American country. The
Times denied any attempts to unseal legal records and stated that "[o]ur reporters made initial inquiries about the adoptions" and "[t]hey did so with great care, understanding the sensitivity of the issue."
The
Times was condemned by the
National Council for Adoption, "NCFA denounces, in the strongest possible terms, the shocking decision of the
New York Times to investigate the adoption records of Justice John Roberts' two young children. The adoption community is outraged that, for obviously political reasons, the
Times has targeted the very private circumstances, motivations, and processes by which the Roberts became parents."
(External Link)
Federalist Society
Judge Roberts has stated that he can't recall ever having been a member of the
Federalist Society. He sought and received published corrections from several major news organizations retracting earlier reports that he'd been a member. On
25 July 2005, however, the
Washington Post reported that John Roberts is listed in the Society's 1997–1998 leadership Directory as serving on the Steering Committee of the Federalist Society. The same source also indicates the possibility that the individuals listed in the "leadership directory" are, in a technical sense, not necessarily "members" of the society, and no confirmable membership information is officially disclosed by the Society itself.
2000 Presidential Election
While an attorney at
Hogan & Hartson, Roberts met with
Florida Governor Jeb Bush and gave advice on the legal aspects of election disputes during the
Florida recount of 2000. Roberts helped polish some legal briefs and held a "moot court" session to prepare Bush's lawyers for arguments in
Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board and
Bush v. Gore.
NARAL airs, then pulls, controversial advertisement
On
10 August 2005,
NARAL Pro-Choice America, an advocate for legal
abortion group, aired controversial
advertisements
(External Link) featuring
Emily Lyons, an abortion clinic director who was injured in the
Eric Rudolph clinic bombing in 1998. The ad alleged that
» Supreme Court nominee John Roberts filed court briefs supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber… America can't afford a justice whose ideology leads him to excuse violence against other Americans.
The ads ran only in
Maine and
Rhode Island, the home states of moderate Republican Senators,
Olympia Snowe,
Susan Collins and
Lincoln Chafee.
The brief, which was filed almost seven years before the bombing of Lyons' clinic and which dealt with obstructing access to clinics, not bombings
(External Link), argued that while abortion protesters from
Operation Rescue couldn't be prosecuted under the 1871 Federal
Ku Klux Klan Act for discrimination, they'd violated state law by trespassing. Ultimately, the
Supreme Court agreed, ruling 6 to 3 in
Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic that opposition to abortion didn't constitute discrimination against women "as is evident from the fact that men and women are on both sides of the issue, just as men and women are on both sides of petitioners' unlawful demonstrations.".
Even before the ad was shown on
television,
White House spokesman
Steve Schmidt responded to NARAL's attempt to smear Roberts by linking him to anti-abortion extremists, arguing that the claims were "outrageously false, bordering on the slanderous." While Roberts in his
amicus brief for the Government, argued that abortion protestors couldn't be prosecuted federally for discrimination, he pointed out that the defendants obstruction was illegal under Virginia law. Further, Roberts has argued in a Reagan administration memo that violence such as bombings had no protection under the law: "No matter how lofty or sincerely held the goal, those who resort to violence to achieve it are criminals," he wrote.
(External Link) NARAL was unimpressed with this memo, arguing that it wasn't an official action like his
amicus brief.
NARAL argued that "This wasn't an arcane legal dispute, but a fight over whether or not law enforcement could use their most effective weapon [theKlan Act] against extremists who use violence."
(External Link) After the
Bray decision, Congress passed the
Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act, which criminalized obstructing access to abortion clinics at the Federal level, effectively replacing the Klan Act with an even more effective legal weapon against those that obstructed access to clinics.
National Review Online argued that "The fact that this law failed to deter the 1998 bombing that injured the clinic worker featured in NARAL's ad makes it all the more ludicrous to suggest that Roberts's proper reading of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in 1991 is somehow responsible."
(External Link)
In the face of intense criticism even among supporters of legal abortion, NARAL eventually withdrew the inflammatory ads.
Judicial views
2003 hearings on appeals court nomination
During Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination to the circuit court, Roberts testified on his background and views on jurisprudence.
(External Link) Roberts was subsequently approved by the Senate by
unanimous consent.
(External Link)
General approach to the Constitution
Because he's been a judge for only two years, Roberts doesn't have an extensive case history from which a general approach to the Constitution can be determined, and he appears not to have publicly stated his views on the subject. He has even said that "I don't think beginning with an all-encompassing approach to constitutional interpretation is the best way to faithfully construe the document," which frustrated the Senators during his 2003 nomination.
(External Link) In law professor
Randy Barnett's words, "In his distinguished career, he's somehow managed not to give a speech or write an article that reveals the core of his judicial philosophy. As a result, we simply have no idea what to expect from him".
(External Link) Cass Sunstein, a law professor at the
University of Chicago argues that in general, Roberts appears to be a judicial minimalist, emphasizing precedent, as opposed to an
originalism-oriented or rights-focused jurist. "Judge Roberts' opinions thus far are careful, lawyerly, and narrow. They avoid broad pronouncements. They don't try to reorient the law."
(External Link)
The Commerce Clause
[S]tarting with McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice Marshall gave a very broad and expansive reading to the powers of the Federal Government and explained that—and I don't remember the exact quote—but if the ends be legitimate, then any means chosen to achieve them are within the power of the Federal Government, and cases interpreting that, throughout the years, have come down. Certainly, by the time Lopez was decided, many of us had learned in law school that it was just sort of a formality to say that interstate commerce was affected and that cases weren't going to be thrown out that way. Lopez certainly breathed new life into the Commerce Clause.
I think it remains to be seen, in subsequent decisions, how rigorous a showing, and in many cases, it's just a showing. It's not a question of an abstract fact, does this affect interstate commerce or not, but has this body, the Congress, demonstrated the impact on interstate commerce that drove them to legislate? That's a very important factor. It wasn't present in Lopez at all. I think the members of Congress had heard the same thing I'd heard in law school, that this is an important—and they hadn't gone through the process of establishing a record in that case.(External Link)
Federalism
[S]imply because you've a problem that needs addressing, it's not necessarily the case that Federal legislation is the best way to address it… [T]he constitutional limitation doesn't turn on whether it's a good idea. There isn't a "good idea" clause in the Constitution. It can be a bad idea, but certainly still satisfy the constitutional requirements.(External Link)
Judicial activism and deference to legislatures
[T]he Supreme Court has, throughout its history, on many occasions described the deference that's due to legislative judgments. Justice Holmes described assessing the constitutionality of an act of Congress as the gravest duty that the Supreme Court is called upon to perform… [I]t's a principle that's easily stated and needs to be observed in practice, as well as in theory.
Now, the Court, of course, has the obligation, and has been recognized since Marbury v. Madison, to assess the constitutionality of acts of Congress, and when those acts are challenged, it's the obligation of the Court to say what the law is. The determination of when deference to legislative policy judgments goes too far and becomes abdication of the judicial responsibility, and when scrutiny of those judgments goes too far on the part of the judges and becomes what I think is properly called judicial activism, that's certainly the central dilemma of having an unelected, as you describe it correctly, undemocratic judiciary in a democratic republic.(External Link)
In referring to Brown v. Board that overturned school segregation:
"The Court in that case, of course, overruled a prior decision. I don't think that constitutes judicial activism because obviously if the decision is wrong, it should be overruled. That's not activism. That's applying the law correctly."
Record as an attorney
[T]here is a longstanding tradition in our country — dating back to one of the more famous episodes, of course, being John Adams' representation of the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre — that the positions a lawyer presents on behalf of a client shouldn't be ascribed to that lawyer as his personal beliefs or his personal positions.(External Link)
On Roe v. Wade
When testifying before the Senate in 2003, Roberts acknowledged that, on the Circuit Court, he'd have an obligation to follow precedents established by the Supreme Court, including the controversial decision invalidating many restrictions on the right to an
abortion. He stated: "
Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land… There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as
Casey."
(External Link) This consideration wouldn't apply if he were a Justice of the Supreme Court, however. In that capacity he'd be entitled to vote to limit or overturn
Roe and related cases.
Life tenure
In a
1983 memo analyzing a Senate resolution to limit the judges to 10-year terms, Roberts questioned the desirability of lifetime tenure, arguing that when the Constitution was drafted, "people simply didn't live as long as they do now" and that contemporary judges risked "los[ing] all touch with reality through decades of ivory tower existence" by becoming "insulated from the normal currents of life for 25 or 30 years." He also saw limiting the terms of judges as a good way to ensure turnover and to prevent judges from becoming too
activist. This couldn't be extended to the Supreme Court, and Roberts' position now, because of the express constitutional requirement of a life term.
Neutrality
Judge Roberts has specifically disassociated himself from cases he was involved with during his tenure as Deputy Solicitor General. In a footnote to a
1994 law review article, he wrote:
» In the interest of full disclosure, the author would like to point out that as Deputy Solicitor General for a portion of the
1992–
'93 term, he was involved in many of the cases discussed below. In the interest of even fuller disclosure, he'd also like to point out that his views as a commentator on those cases don't necessarily reflect his views as an advocate for his former client, the
United States.
Notable arguments on behalf of clients
As Deputy Solicitor General
Arguing for the results sought by his client, the President of the United States)
Abortion
Roberts is listed as a coauthor on a
brief before the Supreme Court in
Rust v. Sullivan,
500 U.S. 173 (
1991), defending the validity of a
Department of Health and Human Services regulation that prohibited recipients of funding under the
Public Health Service Act from not only providing abortions, but also counselling, advising, or promoting the idea that a woman seek an abortion:
We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled. As more fully explained in our briefs, filed as amicus curiae, in Hodgson v. Minnesota, 110 S. Ct. 2926 (1990); Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 109 S. Ct. 3040 (1989); Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 476 U.S. 747 (1986); and City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983), the Court's conclusions in Roe that there's a fundamental right to an abortion and that government has no compelling interest in protecting prenatal human life throughout pregnancy find no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution. (External Link)
The brief in question lists the following authors: Michael J. Astrue,
General Counsel; Joel Mangel, Deputy Chief Counsel; Carol C. Conrad, Attorney, Department of Health and Human Services;
Kenneth W. Starr,
Solicitor General; Stuart M. Gerson, Assistant Attorney General;
John G. Roberts, Jr., Deputy Solicitor General; Jeffrey P. Minear, Assistant to the Solicitor General; Anthony J. Steinmeyer, Lowell v. Sturgill, Jr., Attorneys.
For further discussion of Roberts's views on
Roe, see his comments at the Judiciary Committee hearings under "Views."
Environmental regulation
Roberts argued against the private citizen's right to sue the federal government for violations of environmental regulations in
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife,
504 U.S. 555 (1992).
Separation of church and state
In a
brief in
Lee v. Weisman,
505 U.S. 577, a
1992 case about
school prayer, Roberts wrote that "history shows that religious acknowledgments were part of the ceremonies of all three branches of government when the Republic was founded," and that "[n]othing in the text of the Establishment Clause or in the concerns leading to its adoption suggests that a ceremonial acknowledgment of religion is a "law respecting an establishment of religion.'" In the process, he argued that the
Lemon v. Kurtzman, which was used as precedent for
Lee, was wrongly decided. He argued that
Marsh v. Chambers, a competing precedent on church-state separation that's less restrictive, is a clearer decision that better interprets the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
(External Link)
Private law practice
(arguing for the results sought by his clients)
Environmental regulation
In the case
Bragg v. West Virginia Coal Association, Roberts argued on behalf of the
National Mining Association in support of the legality of
mountaintop removal.
Business-labor relations
In a case before the Supreme Court, Roberts argued on behalf of mining companies who wanted to use criminal contempt fines to force the end of a strike which had been ruled unlawful. The case,
United Mine Workers of America v. Bagwell,
512 U.S. 821 (
1994), ended in a ruling in favor of the unions, with the majority opinion authored by Justice
Harry Blackmun.
(External Link)
Gay rights
The Los Angeles Times reports that Roberts was "instrumental" behind-the-scenes in working to get the Supreme Court to declare a Colorado state constitutional amendment unconstitutional in the case of
Romer v. Evans. The amendment prohibited all legislative, executive and judicial action designed to protect homosexual persons from discrimination.
The Supreme Court, following the lead of Justice Kennedy, held that the amendment violated the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution. Roberts performed his work on the behalf of his law firm's pro bono department at Hogan and Hartson. Hogan and Hartson allow their employees to refuse help on pro bono cases if they find them "morally repugnant". At least one conservative group,
Public Advocate had planned to oppose Robert's nomination because of this case.
Judicial opinions
Roberts has authored 49 opinions in his two years in the D.C. Circuit but has elicited only two dissents on his decisions, and on the many other cases he's heard in that time, he's authored only three dissenting opinions of his own. His past rulings that are most likely to be discussed in his upcoming confirmation hearing dealt with the following issues:
Fourth and Fifth Amendments
The D.C. Circuit case
Hedgepeth v. Washington Metro Authority,
284 F. Supp. 2d 145, involved a twelve-year-old girl who was invited to incriminate herself as an illegal drug user, taken into custody, handcuffed, driven to police headquarters, booked, and fingerprinted because she violated a publicly-advertised
zero tolerance "no eating" policy in a
Washington Metro station by eating a single
french fry. Roberts wrote for a 3-0 panel affirming a district court decision that dismissed the girl's complaint, which was predicated on the
Fourth and
Fifth Amendments, specifically the claim that an adult would have only received a citation for the same offense, while children must be detained until parents can be notified.
Roberts began his opinion by noting, "No one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation," and pointing out that the policies under which the girl was apprehended had since been changed. Because age discrimination is allowed under previous jurisprudence if there's any
rational basis for it, only weak state interests were required to justify the policy. "Because parents and guardians play an essential role in that rehabilitative process, it's reasonable for the District to seek to ensure their participation, and the method chosen — detention until the parent is notified and retrieves the child — certainly does that, in a way issuing a citation might not." Roberts concluded that the age discrimination and detention in this case were constitutional, noting that "the question before us… isn't whether these policies were a bad idea, but whether they violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.", language reminiscent of Justice
Potter Stewart's dissent in
Griswold v. Connecticut, in which Justice Stewart wrote, "
We are not asked in this case to say whether we think this law is unwise, or even asinine. We are asked to hold that it violates the United States Constitution. And that, I can't do."
Military tribunals
In
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Roberts was part of a unanimous panel overturning the district court ruling and upholding
military tribunals set up by the Bush administration for trying terrorism suspects known as
enemy combatants. Circuit Judge
A. Raymond Randolph, writing for the court, ruled that Hamdan, a driver for
al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden (External Link), could be tried by a military court because (1) the military commission had the approval of the
United States Congress; (2) the
Third Geneva Convention is a treaty between nations and as such it doesn't confer individual rights and remedies enforceable in U.S. courts; and (3) even if the Convention could be enforced in U.S. courts, it wouldn't be of assistance to Hamdan at the time because, for a conflict such as the war against al-Qaeda (considered by the court as a separate war from that against
Afghanistan itself) that isn't between two countries, it guarantees only a certain standard of judicial procedure without speaking to the jurisdiction in which the prisoner must be tried. The court held open the possibility of judicial review of the results of the military commission after the current proceedings have ended.
(External Link)
Environmental regulation
On the U.S. Court of Appeals, Roberts wrote a dissenting opinion regarding
Rancho Viejo, LLC v. Norton,
323 F.3d 1062, a case involving the protection of a rare Californian toad under the
Endangered Species Act. When the court denied a rehearing
en banc,
334 F.3d 1158 (D.C. Cir. 2003), Roberts dissented, arguing that the original opinion was wrongly decided because he found it inconsistent with
United States v. Lopez and
United States v. Morrison in that it focused on the effects of the regulation, rather than the taking of the toads themselves, on
interstate commerce. In Roberts's view, the
Commerce Clause of the Constitution didn't permit the government to regulate activity affecting what he called "a hapless toad" that "for reasons of its own lives its entire life in
California." He said that reviewing the case could allow the court "alternative grounds for sustaining application of the Act that may be more consistent with Supreme Court precedent."
Other opinions
During his time on the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Judge Roberts wrote opinions for 49 cases (as of 26 July 2005) including the following:
| Case |
Argued |
Decided |
| Ramaprakash v. FAA (External Link) |
September 18, 2003 |
October 21, 2003 |
| United States v. Bolla Steven (External Link) |
September 19, 2003 |
October 24, 2003 |
| Bloch Felix S. v. Powell, Colin L. (External Link) |
October 14, 2003 |
November 21, 2003 |
| Hedgepeth v. Washington Metro Transit Authority (External Link) |
September 17, 2004 |
October 26, 2004 |
| Universal City Studios v. Peters (External Link) |
February 17, 2005 |
April 8, 2005 |
| United States v. Jackson (External Link) |
April 4, 2005 |
July 22, 2005
|
A complete list can be found at the end of this page under 'External links'.
Trivia concerning Roberts confirmation
Robert is the second sitting justice to have graduated from Harvard College (along with
David Souter) and the sixth sitting justice to attend Harvard Law School (Souter,
Stephen Breyer,
Antonin Scalia, and
Anthony Kennedy all graduated from Harvard Law School, while
Ruth Bader Ginsburg attended there for two years and transferred to Columbia Law School). He is the 109th justice to serve on the court, as well as the 17th Chief Justice.
With the addition of Roberts, the Supreme Court's membership had more
Roman Catholics with four (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy) than justices of other denominations. Upon the confirmation of
Samuel Alito in
2006, the Roman Catholics on the court numbered five, with two Protestant (Stevens and Souter) and two Jewish (Ginsburg and Breyer) justices.
During his confirmation hearings, Roberts testified, under oath, that his two favorite movies were
Doctor Zhivago and
North by Northwest.
Summary of cases argued as a private attorney
During his work at Hogan & Hartson, Roberts argued before several appellate courts and several cases before the Supreme Court:
| Case |
Argued |
Decided |
Represented |
| First Options v. Kaplan (External Link), 514 U.S. 938 |
March 22, 1995 |
May 22, 1995 |
Respondent |
| Adams v. Robertson, 520 U.S. 83 |
January 14, 1997 |
March 3, 1997 |
Respondent |
| Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government (External Link), 522 U.S. 520 |
December 10, 1997 |
February 25, 1998 |
Petitioner |
| Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (External Link), 534 U.S. 1127 |
January 21, 1998 |
March 31, 1998 |
Petitioner |
| NCAA v. Smith (External Link), 525 U.S. 459 |
January 20, 1999 |
February 23, 1999 |
Petitioner |
| Rice v. Cayetano (External Link), 528 U.S. 495 |
October 6, 1999 |
February 23, 2000 |
Respondent |
| Eastern Associated Coal Corp. v. Mine Workers (External Link), 531 U.S. 57 |
October 2, 2000 |
November 28, 2000 |
Petitioner |
| TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc. (External Link), 532 U.S. 23 |
November 29, 2000 |
March 20, 2001 |
Petitioner |
| Toyota Motor Mfg v. Williams (External Link), 534 U.S. 184 |
November 7, 2001 |
January 8, 2002 |
Petitioner |
| Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (External Link), 535 U.S. 302 |
January 7, 2002 |
April 23, 2002 |
Respondent |
| Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran (External Link), 536 U.S. 355 |
January 16, 2002 |
June 20, 2002 |
Petitioner |
| Gonzaga University v. Doe (External Link), 536 U.S. 273 |
April 24, 2002 |
June 20, 2002 |
Petitioner |
| Barnhart v. Peabody Coal Co. (External Link), 537 U.S. 149 |
October 8, 2002 |
January 15, 2003 |
Respondent |
| Smith v. Doe (External Link), 538 U.S. 84 |
November 13, 2002 |
March 5, 2003 |
Petitioner |
Sources
White House documents
- "Supreme Court Nomination and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate" (September 6, 2005) (External Link)
- "Supreme Court Nomination Sent to the Senate" (July 29, 2005) (External Link)
- "President Nominates Judge Roberts to be Supreme Court Chief Justice" (September 5, 2005) (External Link)
- "President Announces Judge John Roberts as Supreme Court Nominee" (July 19, 2005)(External Link)
News articles
"Appellate judge Roberts is Bush high-court pick." MSNBC. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
Argetsinger, Amy, and Jo Becker. "The nominee as a young pragmatist: under Reagan, Roberts tackled tough issues." Washington Post. July 22, 2005. (External Link)
Barbash, Fred, et al: "Bush to nominate Judge John G. Roberts Jr." Washington Post. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
Becker, Jo, and R. Jeffrey Smith. "Record of accomplishment—and some contradictions." Washington Post. July 20, 2005. (External Link)
Bumuller, Elisabeth, and David Stout: "President chooses conservative judge as nominee to court." New York Times. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
"Bush: Meeting with Roberts during recount wasn't political." Associated Press. July 23, 2005. (External Link)
Entous, Adam. "Bush picks conservative Roberts for Supreme Court." Reuters. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
Kallestad, Brent. "Roberts helped counsel Jeb Bush." Associated Press. July 21, 2005. (External Link)
Lane, Charles. "Federalist affiliation misstated: Roberts doesn't belong to group." Washington Post. July 21, 2005. (External Link)
Lane, Charles. "Short record as judge is under a microscope." Washington Post. July 21, 2005. (External Link)
Groppe, Maureen, and John Tuohy. "If you ask John where he's from, he says Indiana." Indianapolis Star. July 20, 2005. (External Link)
McFeatters, Ann. "John G. Roberts Jr. is Bush choice for Supreme Court." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
Riechmann, Deb. "Federal judge Roberts is Bush's choice." Associated Press. July 20, 2005. (External Link)
"Roberts: A smart, self-effacing 'Eagle Scout.'" Associated Press. July 20, 2005. (External Link)
"Who Is John G. Roberts Jr.?" ABC News. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
Government/official biographies
"President announces Judge John Roberts as Supreme Court nominee." Office of the Press Secretary, Executive Office of the President. (External Link)
"Roberts, John G., Jr." Federal Judicial Center. (External Link)
"John G. Roberts biography." Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice. (External Link)
"Biographical Sketches of the Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit." United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (External Link)
John G. Roberts Questionnaire for Appeals Court Confirmation Hearing (p. 297-339) and responses to Questions from Various Senators (p. 443-461) (External Link) (large PDF file)
Other
Coffin, Shannen W. "Meet John Roberts: The President Makes the Best Choice." National Review Online. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
"Former Hogan & Hartson partner nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court." Hogan & Hartson, LLP. July 20, 2005. (External Link)
Goldman, Jerry. "John G. Roberts, Jr." Oyez. (External Link)
"John G. Roberts, Jr. Fact Sheet" La Lumiere School. (External Link)
"John G. Roberts federal campaign contributions." Newsmeat.com. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
"John G. Roberts Jr." DKosopedia. July 19, 2005. (External Link)
"Progress for America: Support for the Confirmation of John G. Roberts" (External Link)
"Report of the Alliance for Justice: Opposition to the Confirmation of John G. Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit." Alliance for Justice. (External Link) (PDF file)
"Wexler: Bush's Supreme Court pick insulting to disenfranchised Florida voters." Office of Representative Robert Wexler. July 20, 2005. (External Link)Further Information
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