Justice Roberts Talks About Clerks, Oral Argument, & State Of The Union

Justice John Roberts visited my former home, the University of Alabama, yesterday.  He gave a 30 minute talk about the history of the Supreme Court.   Then students started asking questions. 

One student asked about the role of oral argument and he commented that it "plays a very important role" though he was unwilling to say whether oral argument changes his vote.  About clerks: "I like them to be able to talk well."  "Gotta seem like nice people."  "I like people with a fair amount of self-confidence." Books he recommends: "Edward White's John Marshall: Definer of a Nation.  About the role of international law: "This is a discussion in which each side is almost intentionally missing the point of the other side."  About Senate judicial hearings: "The process is not very fruitful."

As to the State of the Union: "Anybody can criticize the Supreme Court without any qualm....Some people have an obligation...given their office....The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up literally surrounding the Supreme Court  cheering and hollering while the Court according to the requirements of protocol has to sit there expressioinless I think is very troubling....to the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we're there."

I do have one historical question: is the pep rally nature of the state of the union address new?

The WaPo article is here.  The podcast is here.

Comments

[Alfred Brophy]

Thanks for this, Dan. I think Chief Justice Roberts meant G. Edward White, The Marshall Court and Cultural Change (which I used to teach when I was at UA) -- an absolutely fabulous book, btw. Or Jean Edward Smith's John Marshall: Definer of a Nation.

[Alfred Brophy]

Dan--just listened to Chief Justice Roberts' speech. It's a gracious speech, particularly where he spoke about Alabama's connections to the Court. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Roberts talk about Justice John A. Campbell; I've been working on him of late. Second, it's great to see the auditorium; it brings back a lot of great memories of property, trusts and estates, and remedies classes I taught there. Third, I was pleasantly suprised -- shocked, really -- to hear that he went to law school thinking he might be a legal historian! Fourth, I'm still confused about whether Roberts meant G. Edward White's Marshall Court and Cultural Change or Jean Smith's John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, though I suspect it's the later -- because Roberts mentions Marshall's experience at Valley Forge, which I don't think White discussed in his book. (See CSPAN at about minute 55).