By Dan FletcherThe Daily Northwestern
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. spoke at the Northwestern Law School Thursday about the importance of remembering the history behind his position on the Supreme Court.
About 400 people attended the lecture, which was not open to the public.
Roberts framed his talk by mentioning four of the portraits of chief justices hanging in “positions of honor” in the court’s conference room: those of John Jay, John Marshall, William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes.
“When I first sat there, the portraits all seemed to be looking down at me in surprise,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience. “As they look down on me, I look up to them.”
Roberts said Jay had the unenviable position of being the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, a post he eventually left to become governor of New York.
Marshall defined the role of chief justice and the powers of the Supreme Court, Roberts said. He said Marshall tried to make the Supreme Court a single body, rather than a collection of judges.
“Without that unity, I doubt the court could have become the authoritative body (it is today),” Roberts said.
Taft is best remembered for the administrative changes he brought to the court, as well as for increasing the communication within the judicial hierarchy, he said. But Roberts did stop to point out one other attribute Taft is remembered for: his weight.
“He weighed considerably more than 300 pounds, and if he was not larger than life, he was large enough,” he said.
Roberts said Taft was a courteous man, telling the story of the time he gave up his seat on a trolley so three woman could sit down, again drawing laughter from the crowd.
Roberts finished the lecture by discussing Hughes’ role in stopping the “court packing” proposal of President Franklin Roosevelt, a challenge he called “the greatest the court ever faced.”
While Roberts’ lecture was not political, he answered a number of questions from the audience after his talk, including whether the salary of federal judges should be raised.
“During my confirmation hearings, I said judges should act like umpires,” Roberts said. “Major League umpires make twice as much as a federal district judge.”
He said lawyers can make “many, many times” more money in private practice than as a federal judge, and that this is cause for concern.
“The best lawyers should become federal judges,” he said.
Students shied away from asking political questions, instead asking Roberts how he gets along with the other justices and why he doesn’t wear ornamentation on the sleeves of his robes, as was the practice of his predecessor William Rehnquist.
“It was his signature and it wouldn’t make any sense for me to copy it,” Roberts said.
Medill senior Guy Benson said he was impressed by Roberts’ lecture.
“I think Roberts clearly is a brilliant man,” Benson said. “He didn’t delve into legal issues, but he doesn’t want to tip his hat or call his impartiality into question.”
Roberts is the 2007 Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar. In addition to his lecture, Roberts spent time in discussions with law students and faculty Thursday and will spend time at the school Friday, as well.
Reach Dan Fletcher at [email protected].
