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When President Bush nominated Judge John Roberts to become the next Chief Justice of the United States, most conservatives were pleased with the decision–-and not without good reason.  Judge Roberts is a solid conservative, an experienced judge and lawyer, a church-going Catholic, and by all accounts posessing a brilliant legal mind.

 

Judge Roberts, a graduate of Harvard Law School, spent time working as law clerk for several justices, including the late Chief Justice William Rhenquist.  He also worked as a lawyer, arguing cases before the Supreme Court several times, and more recently he served for two years on the District of Columbia Appeals Court.  This experience will doubtless be of value to Mr. Roberts in his work as the Chief Justice.  It is also possible that since he has already spent time as a judge and is used to the demands of such a job he will be less likely to succumb to pressure from liberals, as other judges have done before him.

 

As Chief Justice, one of Judge Roberts’ jobs will be to decide who writes the "Opinion of the Court."  This is a document which expresses the opinions of the minority and majority regarding the decision which has just been made.  When the Chief Justice is in the majority, he decides who will write the majority opinion, and if he is in the minority he decides who will write the minority opinion.  These documents will be read and discussed, and even when the Chief Justice is in the minority, he still has the opportunity to have great influence in this way. 

 

In his opening statements to the Senate Judiciary committee, Judge Roberts said, “Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around.  Judges are like umpires.  Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them.”  There are various ways that this statement could be interpreted, but the most straightforward seems to be that Judge Roberts will not step outside of his role.  Some more liberal judges, both in the Supreme Court and elsewhere have tried to say that the Constitution is a “living document” which is always changing and taking on new meaning.  These judges have stepped beyond the bounds of their job and tried to make new laws, rather than simply reading the Constitution as it as written and applying it.  Judge Roberts appears to understand that judges need to stay within limits and not become over-active.  The role of a judge is a limited role, and one which judges should not attempt to expand because, as Judge Roberts says, “Nobody ever went to a baseball game to see the umpire.”

 

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