Supreme Court justices and their roles

Supreme Court Justices

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

Biography

John Glover Roberts Jr. was born on January 27, 1955, in Buffalo, New York. Roberts grew up with three sisters, Kathy, Peggy, and Barbara and his mother Rosemary. His father, John Sr., a plant manager at Bethlehem Steel, moved the family to Long Beach, Indiana, when Roberts was in fourth grade. After grade school Roberts attended La Lumiere School, a Roman Catholic boarding school in La Porte, Indiana, where he was, by all accounts, an excellent student and athlete ("John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States").

Upon completion of high school Roberts attended Harvard College, receiving his A.B. In 1976 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979. Roberts began his career as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Court from 1979-1980 and as a law clerk for William H. Rehnquist when he was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 term. From 1981-1982 Roberts served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, and from 1982-1986 as Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, White House Counsel's Office. From 1989-1993 Roberts held the position of Principal Deputy Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice. He practiced law in Washington, D.C. from 1986 -- 1989 and 1993 -- 2003. Roberts married Jane Marie Sullivan in 1996. They have two children, Josephine and John ("John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States").

In 2003 President George W. Bush appointed Roberts to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2005, President Bush nominated him as Chief Justice of the United States. Originally Bush nominated Roberts to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court succeeding Sandra Day O'Connor, who was retiring, however, the sudden death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist that September prompted the president to name Roberts to the chief justice's position. His confirmation hearing was uneventful and he was confirmed by a vote of 78 to 22. During the hearing Roberts stressed his philosophy of judicial modesty and respect for precedent. On September 29, 2005 he took his seat (John G. Roberts").

Should Supreme Court justices be appointed for life?

In a recent MSNBC poll 9,015 people responded to the question should Supreme Court Justices be appointed for life? Interestingly 48.5% said no, opting for a fixed 10-year term, while only 39.9% responded in the affirmative. 11.6% were undecided.

The two main arguments against lifetime appointments are that the ideologies of former presidents lives on even after the temperament of the country has changed and depending on the timing of illness and death one president could appoint many justices and have overdue influence over the judicial branch.