John Roberts

This article is about the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. For other uses of the term John Roberts, please see John Roberts (disambiguation).

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.

John Glover Roberts, Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the seventeenth Chief Justice and has served on the Supreme Court since 2005, when he was appointed by President George W. Bush to replace William Rehnquist.

Early Life

Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 27, 1955, the son of John Glover Roberts, Sr. (1928-2008) and Rosemary, née Podrasky. When Roberts was in second grade, his family moved to Long Beach, Indiana.

Roberts attended Notre Dame Elementary School, a Roman Catholic grade school in Long Beach, and La Lumiere School, a Roman Catholic boarding school in LaPorte, Indiana.

He attended Harvard College graduating with an A.B. in history summa cum laude in three years and then then attended Harvard Law School, where he was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated from law school with his J.D. magna cum laude in 1979.

Early Legal Career

After receiving his law degree, John Roberts worked as law clerk for Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. During the 1980 term (1980-1981), he was law clerk for Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States.

From 1981 to 1986, he served in the Reagan administration, first as Special Assistant to the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice (1981-1982), then as Associate Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office (1982–1986). After four years in private practice in Washington, D.C., he served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice from 1989–1993 in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. He then returned to private practice.

Supreme Court

Nomination and Confirmation

On July 19, 2005, John Roberts was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President George W. Bush to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who had announced her retirement at the end of the 2004 term. Roberts' nomination would be the first appointment to the Supreme Court since Stephen Breyer joined the court in 1994. While the confirmation hearings in the Senate were still pending, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died on September 3, 2005, creating a second vacancy on the Supreme Court. President George W. Bush appointed Roberts to fill the vacant Chief Justice seat, rather than the Associate Justice seat he was originally scheduled to be appointed to. In an unusual display of bipartisanship for judicial appointments during the Bush Administration, both the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter (Republican) and Patrick Leahy (Democrat) respectively, supported the nomination, leading to a quick vote in the full Senate, where he was confirmed 78-22. After confirmation, the most senior and Acting Chief Justice, John Paul Stevens administered the oath of office at the White House, beginning his term and what is known as the Roberts Court.

Role as Chief Justice

A conservative and strict constructionist, Roberts is known for writing uncontroversial opinions in his first several terms, then displaying more conservative viewpoints as he has gained more experience.