145-522: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. , 569 U.S. 108 (2013), was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the court found that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act . According to the Court's majority opinion, "it would reach too far to say that mere corporate presence suffices" to displace the presumption against extraterritoriality when all
290-471: A sophomore with second-year standing based on his academic achievements in high school. Roberts first roomed in Straus Hall before moving to Leverett House . Every summer, he returned home to work at the steel plant his father managed. Although he initially felt obscured among other students, Roberts distinguished himself with professors, meriting multiple distinctions for his scholarly writing. He gained
435-408: A strong central government argued that national laws could be enforced by state courts, while others, including James Madison , advocated for a national judicial authority consisting of tribunals chosen by the national legislature. It was proposed that the judiciary should have a role in checking the executive's power to veto or revise laws. Eventually, the framers compromised by sketching only
580-406: A 12-year-old girl who ate in violation of a zero tolerance policy against eating in a metro station. His opinions generally reflected a conservative judicial philosophy, including in areas of civil rights and executive power. The brevity of his tenure and his cautiousness in deciding cases left little for potential opponents to scrutinize while he made rulings as a circuit judge. By the time of
725-459: A Catholic or an Episcopalian . Historically, most justices have been Protestants, including 36 Episcopalians, 19 Presbyterians , 10 Unitarians , 5 Methodists , and 3 Baptists . The first Catholic justice was Roger Taney in 1836, and 1916 saw the appointment of the first Jewish justice, Louis Brandeis . In recent years the historical situation has reversed, as most recent justices have been either Catholic or Jewish. Three justices are from
870-534: A French privateer fleet to attack a British Colony, in spite of an official US policy of neutrality. The Court said the opinion "defies a definitive reading and...hardly suffices to counter the weighty concerns underlying the presumption against extraterritoriality". Finally, the Court found it would be implausible to suppose that the First Congress wanted to make the United States a "uniquely hospitable forum for
1015-554: A State shall be Party." In 1803, the Court asserted itself the power of judicial review , the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution via the landmark case Marbury v Madison . It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law . Under Article Three of the United States Constitution , the composition and procedures of
1160-559: A bigger court would reduce the power of the swing justice , ensure the court has "a greater diversity of views", and make confirmation of new justices less politically contentious. There are currently nine justices on the Supreme Court: Chief Justice John Roberts and eight associate justices. Among the current members of the court, Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of 12,090 days ( 33 years, 36 days) as of November 28, 2024;
1305-535: A cause of action for violations of the law of nations occurring within the territory of a sovereign other than the United States." Reargument of the case occurred on October 1, 2012, with Sullivan reappearing for Shell and the United States Solicitor General Donald Verrilli now arguing as a friend to Kiobel. The Court, in an opinion joined by five justices, held that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under
1450-542: A chief justice and five associate justices through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . The size of the court was first altered by the Midnight Judges Act of 1801 which would have reduced the size of the court to five members upon its next vacancy (as federal judges have life tenure ), but the Judiciary Act of 1802 promptly negated the 1801 act, restoring the court's size to six members before any such vacancy occurred. As
1595-514: A commission, to which the Seal of the Department of Justice must be affixed, before the appointee can take office. The seniority of an associate justice is based on the commissioning date, not the confirmation or swearing-in date. After receiving their commission, the appointee must then take the two prescribed oaths before assuming their official duties. The importance of the oath taking is underscored by
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#17328553496981740-478: A comprehensive jurisprudential philosophy and did "not think beginning with an all-encompassing approach to constitutional interpretation is the best way to faithfully construe the document." Roberts compared judges to baseball umpires: "[I]t's my job to call balls and strikes, and not to pitch or bat." Among the issues he discussed during the hearings were: In Senate hearings, Roberts said: Starting with McCulloch v. Maryland , Chief Justice John Marshall gave
1885-466: A conservative shift. It also expanded Griswold ' s right to privacy to strike down abortion laws ( Roe v. Wade ) but divided deeply on affirmative action ( Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ) and campaign finance regulation ( Buckley v. Valeo ). It also wavered on the death penalty , ruling first that most applications were defective ( Furman v. Georgia ), but later that
2030-549: A floor vote in the Senate. A president may withdraw a nomination before an actual confirmation vote occurs, typically because it is clear that the Senate will reject the nominee; this occurred with President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers in 2005. The Senate may also fail to act on a nomination, which expires at the end of the session. President Dwight Eisenhower 's first nomination of John Marshall Harlan II in November 1954
2175-568: A friend to Kiobel. The arguments received considerable attention in the legal community. Unexpectedly, the Supreme Court announced, on March 5, 2012, that it would hold additional argument on the case during the October 2012 term. It directed the parties to file new briefs on the question "Whether and under what circumstances the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350, allows courts to recognize
2320-516: A general outline of the judiciary in Article Three of the United States Constitution , vesting federal judicial power in "one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." They delineated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the judicial branch as a whole. The 1st United States Congress provided
2465-549: A home of its own and had little prestige, a situation not helped by the era's highest-profile case, Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), which was reversed within two years by the adoption of the Eleventh Amendment . The court's power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court (1801–1835). Under Marshall, the court established the power of judicial review over acts of Congress, including specifying itself as
2610-456: A justice, but made appointments during their subsequent terms in office. No president who has served more than one full term has gone without at least one opportunity to make an appointment. One of the smallest supreme courts in the world, the U.S. Supreme Court consists of nine members: one chief justice and eight associate justices. The U.S. Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court, nor does it specify any specific positions for
2755-438: A national interest in denying safe harbor to a common enemy of mankind. Lower courts have been left to answer which ATS claims "touch and concern the territory of the United States ... with sufficient force" to overcome the presumption against extraterritoriality, and this has been the subject of most post-Kiobel litigation in the lower courts. Some of these cases are: United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of
2900-567: A platform for Supreme Court nomination. On May 9, 2001, Bush nominated Roberts to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to replace Judge James L. Buckley , who had retired. Unlike in 1992 when his first nomination stalled in the Democratic-majority Senate, Roberts's nomination came when Republicans had secured a one-vote Senate majority. But it soon lost that majority when Senator Jim Jeffords left
3045-450: A president may make temporary appointments to fill vacancies. Recess appointees hold office only until the end of the next Senate session (less than two years). The Senate must confirm the nominee for them to continue serving; of the two chief justices and eleven associate justices who have received recess appointments, only Chief Justice John Rutledge was not subsequently confirmed. No U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made
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#17328553496983190-606: A problem is if we pass a federal law, whether it is the Violence Against Women Act or anything else. The fact of the matter is conditions are different in different states, and state laws can be more—relevant is I think exactly the right term, more attuned to the different situations in New York, as opposed to Minnesota, and that is what the federal system is based on. At a Senate hearing, Roberts said: The Supreme Court has, throughout its history, on many occasions described
3335-441: A professor but also contemplated a legal career. One of Roberts's first papers, "Marxism and Bolshevism: Theory and Practice," won Harvard's William Scott Ferguson Prize for the most outstanding essay by a sophomore history major. An early interest in oral advocacy led him to study Daniel Webster , a prominent advocate before the Supreme Court. His senior year paper, "The Utopian Conservative: A Study of Continuity and Change in
3480-402: A recess appointment to the court, and the practice has become rare and controversial even in lower federal courts. In 1960, after Eisenhower had made three such appointments, the Senate passed a "sense of the Senate" resolution that recess appointments to the court should only be made in "unusual circumstances"; such resolutions are not legally binding but are an expression of Congress's views in
3625-420: A remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshall's tenure, although beyond the court's control, the impeachment and acquittal of Justice Samuel Chase from 1804 to 1805 helped cement the principle of judicial independence . The Taney Court (1836–1864) made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v. Sill , which held that while Congress may not limit
3770-415: A reputation as a serious student who valued formalism. Every Sunday, he attended Catholic mass at St. Paul Church . Roberts focused on modern European history and maintained an interest in politics. As an undergraduate, he excelled academically. In his first year, he won the university's Edwards Whitaker Scholarship for outstanding scholastic achievement. He intended to pursue a Ph.D. in history to be
3915-473: A staff lawyer; I didn't have a position," Roberts said. As a lawyer in the George H. W. Bush administration , Roberts signed a legal brief urging the court to overturn Roe v. Wade . In private meetings with senators before his confirmation, Roberts testified that Roe was settled law, but added that it was subject to the legal principle of stare decisis , meaning that while the Court must give some weight to
4060-543: A vacancy occurs, the president , with the advice and consent of the Senate , appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before the court. When in the majority, the chief justice decides who writes the opinion of the court ; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion. On average, the Supreme Court receives about 7,000 petitions for writs of certiorari each year, but only grants about 80. It
4205-436: A very broad and expansive reading to the powers of the federal government and explained generally that if the ends be legitimate, then any means chosen to achieve them are within the power of the federal government, and cases interpreting that, throughout the years, have come down. Certainly, by the time Lopez was decided, many of us had learned in law school that it was just sort of a formality to say that interstate commerce
4350-473: A very important factor. It wasn't present in Lopez at all. I think the members of Congress had heard the same thing I had heard in law school, that this is unimportant—and they hadn't gone through the process of establishing a record in that case. Roberts said the following about federalism in a 1999 radio interview: We have gotten to the point these days where we think the only way we can show we're serious about
4495-459: A violation of equal protection ( United States v. Virginia ), laws against sodomy as violations of substantive due process ( Lawrence v. Texas ) and the line-item veto ( Clinton v. New York ) but upheld school vouchers ( Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ) and reaffirmed Roe ' s restrictions on abortion laws ( Planned Parenthood v. Casey ). The court's decision in Bush v. Gore , which ended
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4640-421: A vote of 16 to 3, and the Senate confirmed him unanimously by voice vote on May 8, 2003. On June 2, he received his judicial commission. Even when Roberts had not yet fully assumed his role as a circuit judge, White House Counsel officers listed him on their shortlist of Supreme Court candidates. Roberts authored 49 opinions during his two-year service on the D.C. Circuit, many of which concerned decisions by
4785-579: A year in their assigned judicial district. Immediately after signing the act into law, President George Washington nominated the following people to serve on the court: John Jay for chief justice and John Rutledge , William Cushing , Robert H. Harrison , James Wilson , and John Blair Jr. as associate justices. All six were confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 1789; however, Harrison declined to serve, and Washington later nominated James Iredell in his place. The Supreme Court held its inaugural session from February 2 through February 10, 1790, at
4930-587: Is accepted practice in the legislative and executive branches, organizations such as the Federalist Society do officially filter and endorse judges that have a sufficiently conservative view of the law. Jurists are often informally categorized in the media as being conservatives or liberal. Attempts to quantify the ideologies of jurists include the Segal–Cover score , Martin-Quinn score , and Judicial Common Space score. Devins and Baum argue that before 2010,
5075-496: Is an American jurist who has served since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States . He has been described as having a moderate conservative judicial philosophy , though he is primarily an institutionalist. Regarded as a swing vote in some cases, Roberts has presided over an ideological shift toward conservative jurisprudence on the high court, in which he has authored key opinions. Born in Buffalo, New York , Roberts
5220-558: Is an exciting time to be at the Justice Department, when so much that has been taken for granted for so long is being seriously reconsidered." Among those he worked with were William Bradford Reynolds in the Civil Rights Division , former classmate Richard Lazarus , J. Harvie Wilkinson III , Theodore Olson , and fellow special assistant Carolyn Kuhl . In 1982, Reagan advisor Fred Fielding recruited Roberts to work at
5365-447: Is an important American national interest like not providing safe harbor to hostis humani generis , or the common enemy of mankind. Breyer first attacks the majority's view that the presumption is not rebutted. He notes that while the majority sees the ATS as applying to piracy on the high seas , piracy necessarily occurs aboard a ship and so is considered to occur within the territory of
5510-415: Is certainly the central dilemma of having an unelected, as you describe it correctly, undemocratic judiciary in a democratic republic. On the subject of stare decisis , referring to Brown v. Board of Education , the decision overturning school segregation , Roberts said: "the Court in that case, of course, overruled a prior decision. I don't think that constitutes judicial activism because obviously if
5655-450: Is one of the smallest supreme courts in the world. David Litt argues the court is too small to represent the perspectives of a country the United States' size. Lawyer and legal scholar Jonathan Turley has advocated for 19 justices, but with the court being gradually expanded by no more than two new members per subsequent president, bringing the U.S. Supreme Court to a similar size as its counterparts in other developed countries. He says that
5800-445: The 2004 presidential election , Justice Rehnquist had been fatally ill and senior Bush administration advisors under Karl Rove began assessing the potential candidates to replace him. Among them, Roberts stood out for his experience as a Supreme Court advocate, which had brought him the favorable attention of not just conservatives but also liberals such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg . On July 19, 2005, President Bush nominated Roberts to
5945-574: The Affordable Care Act ), Shelby County v. Holder (limiting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ), Trump v. Hawaii (expanding presidential powers over immigration), Carpenter v. United States (expanding digital privacy ), Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (overruling race-based admission programs), and Trump v. United States (outlining the extent of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution). Roberts also presided over
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6090-600: The Bethlehem Steel Corporation 's factory in Lackawanna . In 1965, ten-year-old Roberts and his family moved to Long Beach, Indiana , where his father became the manager of a new steel plant in nearby Burns Harbor . By age 13, Roberts "already had a clear plan for his life." He attended the parochial La Lumiere School , an academically rigorous Catholic boarding school in La Porte, Indiana , where he captained
6235-613: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ( Brown v. Board of Education , Bolling v. Sharpe , and Green v. County School Bd. ) and that legislative districts must be roughly equal in population ( Reynolds v. Sims ). It recognized a general right to privacy ( Griswold v. Connecticut ), limited the role of religion in public school, most prominently Engel v. Vitale and Abington School District v. Schempp , incorporated most guarantees of
6380-728: The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission . His opinions often employed a "characteristically crisp, clear writing style" that favored the use of imagery and idioms. Most of the disputes he reviewed concerned government regulation, union rights, and collective bargaining , but he also wrote on environmental law, criminal law, and procedural matters. One case, Hedgepeth ex rel Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit (2004), garnered media attention when Roberts found that Washington police properly detained
6525-546: The Nigerian government , in a brutal crushing of peaceful resistance to aggressive oil development in the Ogoni Niger River Delta . Plaintiffs sought damages under the ATS. The defendants moved to dismiss based on a two-pronged argument. Firstly, they argued that customary international law itself provides the rules to decide whether conduct violates the law of nations where non-state actors are alleged to have committed
6670-664: The Royal Exchange in New York City, then the U.S. capital. A second session was held there in August 1790. The earliest sessions of the court were devoted to organizational proceedings, as the first cases did not reach it until 1791. When the nation's capital was moved to Philadelphia in 1790, the Supreme Court did so as well. After initially meeting at Independence Hall , the court established its chambers at City Hall. Under chief justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth (1789–1801),
6815-576: The Senate Judiciary Committee , to schedule a hearing despite an upcoming election year. Democratic lobbyists and progressive interest groups successfully encouraged Biden to stall the process. As Bill Clinton defeated Bush in the 1992 presidential election , Roberts's nomination lapsed with no Senate vote and expired at the end of the 102nd Congress . In January 1993, Roberts returned to Hogan and Hartson, where, finding great success as an advocate, he began to regularly appear again before
6960-480: The Texas Supreme Court , a close supporter of Bush, also emerged and had a chance to be the first Latino nominee. Roberts, who had not worked in government while Bill Clinton was in office, did not appear on lists compiled by Bush supporters, advocacy groups, or the media, but nonetheless remained a strong candidate for a Republican nomination and was poised to be re-nominated to the D.C. Circuit, often used as
7105-577: The White House . Fielding gathered a group of lawyers that also included J. Michael Luttig and Henry Garrett . From 1982 to 1986, Roberts was an associate with the White House Counsel . He then entered private practice in Washington, D.C. , as an associate at the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells ), working in corporate law . E. Barrett Prettyman , under whom he was first assigned,
7250-411: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln , was denied the opportunity to appoint a justice by a reduction in the size of the court . Jimmy Carter is the only person elected president to have left office after at least one full term without having the opportunity to appoint a justice. Presidents James Monroe , Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George W. Bush each served a full term without an opportunity to appoint
7395-587: The first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump . Roberts was born on January 27, 1955, in Buffalo, New York , to Rosemary ( née Podrasky) and John Glover "Jack" Roberts Sr., both devout Catholics. His father had Irish and Welsh ancestry and his mother was a descendant of Slovak immigrants from Szepes , Hungary . He has two younger sisters, Margaret and Barbara, and an elder sister, Kathy. Roberts spent his early childhood years in Hamburg, New York , where his father worked as an electrical engineer for
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#17328553496987540-466: The standing case of Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation , which became a hallmark in the field. When Starr recused himself in Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC , Roberts took his place, arguing that the use of racial preferences by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was unconstitutional. The position failed to convince the Court, which announced on June 27, 1990, that it had sided with
7685-410: The ATS, and nothing in the statute rebuts that presumption. The presumption against extraterritoriality is a canon of statutory interpretation that provides there is no extraterritorial application of a statute unless there is a clear indication otherwise. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Roberts observed that while the presumption applies to merits questions and the ATS is strictly jurisdictional,
7830-529: The Bill of Rights against the states, prominently Mapp v. Ohio (the exclusionary rule ) and Gideon v. Wainwright ( right to appointed counsel ), and required that criminal suspects be apprised of all these rights by police ( Miranda v. Arizona ). At the same time, the court limited defamation suits by public figures ( New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ) and supplied the government with an unbroken run of antitrust victories. The Burger Court (1969–1986) saw
7975-725: The Bill of Rights, such as in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ( First Amendment ), Heller – McDonald – Bruen ( Second Amendment ), and Baze v. Rees ( Eighth Amendment ). Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution , known as the Appointments Clause , empowers the president to nominate and, with the confirmation ( advice and consent ) of the United States Senate, to appoint public officials , including justices of
8120-442: The Constitution , giving a broader reading to the powers of the federal government to facilitate President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal (most prominently West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish , Wickard v. Filburn , United States v. Darby , and United States v. Butler ). During World War II , the court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese Americans ( Korematsu v. United States ) and
8265-410: The Constitution provides that justices "shall hold their offices during good behavior", which is understood to mean that they may serve for the remainder of their lives, until death; furthermore, the phrase is generally interpreted to mean that the only way justices can be removed from office is by Congress via the impeachment process . The Framers of the Constitution chose good behavior tenure to limit
8410-456: The Court never had clear ideological blocs that fell perfectly along party lines. In choosing their appointments, Presidents often focused more on friendship and political connections than on ideology. Republican presidents sometimes appointed liberals and Democratic presidents sometimes appointed conservatives. As a result, "... between 1790 and early 2010 there were only two decisions that the Guide to
8555-400: The D.C. Circuit to become U.S. Solicitor General under President George H. W. Bush . Needing a deputy, Starr chose Roberts to join the administration as Principal Deputy Solicitor General . "I felt that his experience was good for the political deputy position. [Roberts] was a steady hand, a wise hand. He came in as a person not of vast experience but of vast ability," Starr recalled. With
8700-507: The FCC. Government attorneys, surprised by Roberts's stance against the FCC, discussed whether it contributed to a politicization of the office, as the Solicitor General traditionally defended the government. Thomas Merrill , a deputy for the Solicitor General, described Roberts's candid position simply as: "This affirmative action program violated the Constitution, and we should present that to
8845-533: The Reagan administration to the present, the process has taken much longer and some believe this is because Congress sees justices as playing a more political role than in the past. According to the Congressional Research Service , the average number of days from nomination to final Senate vote since 1975 is 67 days (2.2 months), while the median is 71 days (2.3 months). When the Senate is in recess ,
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#17328553496988990-698: The Recess Appointments Clause, the Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business." This ruling allows the Senate to prevent recess appointments through the use of pro-forma sessions . Lifetime tenure of justices can only be found for US federal judges and the State of Rhode Island's Supreme Court justices, with all other democratic nations and all other US states having set term limits or mandatory retirement ages. Larry Sabato wrote: "The insularity of lifetime tenure, combined with
9135-569: The Second Circuit in May, Roberts went to clerk for Justice (later Chief Justice) William Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme Court from 1980 to 1981. At the end his clerkship with Rehnquist, Roberts worked to gain admission to the bar , studying with Michael W. McConnell , a law clerk of Justice William Brennan . After the 1980 presidential election , he resolved to work under the new Reagan administration . Rehnquist recommended him to Ken Starr , who
9280-410: The Senate may not set any qualifications or otherwise limit who the president can choose. In modern times, the confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from the press and advocacy groups, which lobby senators to confirm or to reject a nominee depending on whether their track record aligns with the group's views. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts hearings and votes on whether
9425-870: The Senate, and remained in office until his death in 1811. Two justices, William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas were subjected to hearings from the Judiciary Committee, with Douglas being the subject of hearings twice, in 1953 and again in 1970 and Fortas resigned while hearings were being organized in 1969. On July 10, 2024, Representative Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez filed Articles of Impeachment against justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito , citing their "widely documented financial and personal entanglements." Because justices have indefinite tenure, timing of vacancies can be unpredictable. Sometimes they arise in quick succession, as in September 1971, when Hugo Black and John Marshall Harlan II left within days of each other,
9570-568: The Supreme Court overruled his previous loss of Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña , establishing that the government must treat people on an individual basis. The next year, his pro bono contributions included giving fundamental aid to gay rights activists in the landmark case of Romer v. Evans (1996). During the 2000 presidential election , Roberts went to Florida to assist George W. Bush , by which time Jeffrey Toobin identified him as "among
9715-545: The Supreme Court were originally established by the 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . As it has since 1869, the court consists of nine justices – the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices – who meet at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Justices have lifetime tenure , meaning they remain on the court until they die, retire, resign, or are impeached and removed from office. When
9860-474: The Supreme Court, he did not explicitly say whether he would vote to overturn either. Jeffrey Rosen said, "I wouldn't bet on Chief Justice Roberts's siding unequivocally with the anti- Roe forces." On September 22, 2005, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Roberts's nomination by a vote of 13–5, with Senators Ted Kennedy , Richard Durbin , Charles Schumer , Joe Biden , and Dianne Feinstein opposed. The full Senate confirmed Roberts on September 29 by
10005-475: The Supreme Court, initially as an associate justice to fill the vacancy left by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor , but promoted him to chief justice after Rehnquist's death. Roberts was confirmed by a Senate vote of 78–22, becoming the youngest to serve in the position since John Marshall . As chief justice, Roberts has authored majority opinions in many landmark cases , including National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (upholding most sections of
10150-450: The Supreme Court. With a reputation as the leading private Supreme Court litigator, Roberts often represented corporations that sued individuals or the government. He was Hogan and Hartson's most prominent partner , arguing 18 Supreme Court cases from 1993 to 2003 and 20 in nationwide appellate courts while also doing work pro bono , demonstrating expertise in a wide variety of different fields. In June 1995, to Roberts's satisfaction,
10295-425: The Supreme Court. This clause is one example of the system of checks and balances inherent in the Constitution. The president has the plenary power to nominate, while the Senate possesses the plenary power to reject or confirm the nominee. The Constitution sets no qualifications for service as a justice, such as age, citizenship, residence or prior judicial experience, thus a president may nominate anyone to serve, and
10440-476: The Supreme Court." When Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1991, Roberts's proven experience in complex litigation for the Bush administration made him a leading candidate to fill Thomas's vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia . On January 27, 1992, Bush nominated Roberts, who had just turned 37 years old, to the D.C. Circuit, and Starr urged Senator Joe Biden , chair of
10585-576: The Thought of Daniel Webster," won a Bowdoin Prize . In 1976, Roberts obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in history, summa cum laude , with membership in Phi Beta Kappa . A recent surplus of history graduate students convinced him to attend Harvard Law School for better career prospects, though he maintained his original goal to become a professor. His first-year performance in law school placed him in
10730-617: The U.S. Supreme Court designated as important and that had at least two dissenting votes in which the Justices divided along party lines, about one-half of one percent." Even in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, Democratic and Republican elites tended to agree on some major issues, especially concerning civil rights and civil liberties—and so did the justices. But since 1991, they argue, ideology has been much more important in choosing justices—all Republican appointees have been committed conservatives and all Democratic appointees have been liberals. As
10875-537: The U.S. Supreme Court to fill a vacancy to be created by the impending retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor . Roberts's nomination was the first Supreme Court nomination since Stephen Breyer 's in 1994. On September 3, 2005, while Roberts's confirmation was pending before the Senate, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died. Two days later, Bush withdrew Roberts's nomination as O'Connor's successor and nominated Roberts to succeed Rehnquist as chief justice. During his confirmation hearings, Roberts said he did not have
11020-442: The United States ( SCOTUS ) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States . It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law . It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which
11165-482: The age of 70 years 6 months and refused retirement, up to a maximum bench of 15 justices. The proposal was ostensibly to ease the burden of the docket on elderly judges, but the actual purpose was widely understood as an effort to "pack" the court with justices who would support Roosevelt's New Deal. The plan, usually called the " court-packing plan ", failed in Congress after members of Roosevelt's own Democratic Party believed it to be unconstitutional. It
11310-491: The alleged wrongful conduct takes place outside the United States. The Court did not rule out the possibility of corporate liability if the presumption against extraterritoriality could be overcome by acts that sufficiently "touch and concern" the United States. Lower court decisions were divided. After the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC ruled out an ATS cause of action against foreign corporate defendants,
11455-451: The appointments of relatively young attorneys who give long service on the bench, produces senior judges representing the views of past generations better than views of the current day." Sanford Levinson has been critical of justices who stayed in office despite medical deterioration based on longevity. James MacGregor Burns stated lifelong tenure has "produced a critical time lag, with the Supreme Court institutionally almost always behind
11600-536: The behest of Chief Justice Chase , and in an attempt by the Republican Congress to limit the power of Democrat Andrew Johnson , Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, providing that the next three justices to retire would not be replaced, which would thin the bench to seven justices by attrition. Consequently, one seat was removed in 1866 and a second in 1867. Soon after Johnson left office,
11745-525: The case of Edwin M. Stanton . Although confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1869, and duly commissioned as an associate justice by President Ulysses S. Grant , Stanton died on December 24, prior to taking the prescribed oaths. He is not, therefore, considered to have been a member of the court. Before 1981, the approval process of justices was usually rapid. From the Truman through Nixon administrations, justices were typically approved within one month. From
11890-433: The century, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979 to 1980. Friendly was impressed by Roberts's performance; they shared similar backgrounds, and co-clerk Reinier Kraakman recalled that "there was a bond between them." When Roberts became a federal judge years later, he identified with Friendly's nonpartisan approach to law and maintained a correspondence with him. After finishing his clerkship at
12035-446: The committee reports out the nomination, the full Senate considers it. Rejections are relatively uncommon; the Senate has explicitly rejected twelve Supreme Court nominees, most recently Robert Bork , nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Although Senate rules do not necessarily allow a negative or tied vote in committee to block a nomination, prior to 2017 a nomination could be blocked by filibuster once debate had begun in
12180-601: The conduct of foreign affairs is rejected by Breyer, who notes US obligations under the Convention Against Torture , the third Geneva Convention , the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance , and several other treaties. Ultimately, however, the concurrence agrees with the Court's judgment, as the mere corporate presence of a foreign defendant does not invoke
12325-417: The constitutionality of acts of Congress, and when those acts are challenged, it is the obligation of the Court to say what the law is. The determination of when deference to legislative policy judgments goes too far and becomes abdication of the judicial responsibility, and when scrutiny of those judgments goes too far on the part of the judges and becomes what I think is properly called judicial activism —that
12470-503: The court (by order of seniority following the Chief Justice) include: For much of the court's history, every justice was a man of Northwestern European descent, and almost always Protestant . Diversity concerns focused on geography, to represent all regions of the country, rather than religious, ethnic, or gender diversity. Racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the court increased in the late 20th century. Thurgood Marshall became
12615-406: The court heard few cases; its first decision was West v. Barnes (1791), a case involving procedure. As the court initially had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was also made by two-thirds (voting four to two). However, Congress has always allowed less than the court's full membership to make decisions, starting with a quorum of four justices in 1789. The court lacked
12760-425: The court is composed of six justices appointed by Republican presidents and three appointed by Democratic presidents. It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and associate justices Thomas , Alito , Gorsuch , Kavanaugh , and Barrett, appointed by Republican presidents, compose the court's conservative wing, and that Justices Sotomayor , Kagan , and Jackson , appointed by Democratic presidents, compose
12905-562: The court the most conservative since the 1930s as well as calls for an expansion in the court's size to fix what some saw as an imbalance, with Republicans having appointed 14 of the 18 justices immediately preceding Amy Coney Barrett . In April 2021, during the 117th Congress , some Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced the Judiciary Act of 2021, a bill to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 seats. It met divided views within
13050-432: The court's liberal wing. Prior to Justice Ginsburg's death in 2020, the conservative Chief Justice Roberts was sometimes described as the court's 'median justice' (with four justices more liberal and four more conservative than he is). Darragh Roche argues that Kavanaugh as 2021's median justice exemplifies the rightward shift in the court. Chief Justice Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955)
13195-577: The court's members. The Constitution assumes the existence of the office of the chief justice, because it mentions in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 that "the Chief Justice" must preside over impeachment trials of the President of the United States . The power to define the Supreme Court's size and membership has been assumed to belong to Congress, which initially established a six-member Supreme Court composed of
13340-441: The death penalty itself was not unconstitutional ( Gregg v. Georgia ). The Rehnquist Court (1986–2005) was known for its revival of judicial enforcement of federalism , emphasizing the limits of the Constitution's affirmative grants of power ( United States v. Lopez ) and the force of its restrictions on those powers ( Seminole Tribe v. Florida , City of Boerne v. Flores ). It struck down single-sex state schools as
13485-399: The decision is wrong, it should be overruled. That's not activism. That's applying the law correctly." As a lawyer for the Reagan administration, Roberts wrote legal memos defending administration policies on abortion . At his nomination hearing, he testified that the legal memos represented the views of the administration he was representing at the time and not necessarily his own. "I was
13630-414: The deference that is due to legislative judgments. Justice Holmes described assessing the constitutionality of an act of Congress as the gravest duty that the Supreme Court is called upon to perform. ... It's a principle that is easily stated and needs to be observed in practice, as well as in theory. Now, the Court, of course, has the obligation, and has been recognized since Marbury v. Madison , to assess
13775-438: The detailed organization of a federal judiciary through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . The Supreme Court, the country's highest judicial tribunal, was to sit in the nation's capital and would initially be composed of a chief justice and five associate justices. The act also divided the country into judicial districts, which were in turn organized into circuits. Justices were required to "ride circuit" and hold circuit court twice
13920-794: The electoral recount during the 2000 United States presidential election , remains especially controversial with debate ongoing over the rightful winner and whether or not the ruling should set a precedent. The Roberts Court (2005–present) is regarded as more conservative and controversial than the Rehnquist Court. Some of its major rulings have concerned federal preemption ( Wyeth v. Levine ), civil procedure ( Twombly – Iqbal ), voting rights and federal preclearance ( Shelby County ), abortion ( Gonzales v. Carhart and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ), climate change ( Massachusetts v. EPA ), same-sex marriage ( United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges ), and
14065-424: The enforcement of international norms." The Court noted that all conduct at issue in the case took place outside the United States and that "it would reach too far to say that mere corporate presence suffices" to displace the presumption against extraterritoriality, unless Congress determines otherwise in a statute more specific than the ATS. Justice Kennedy separately wrote a one-paragraph concurrence noting that
14210-470: The first African-American justice in 1967. Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice in 1981. In 1986, Antonin Scalia became the first Italian-American justice. Marshall was succeeded by African-American Clarence Thomas in 1991. O'Connor was joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman on the Court, in 1993. After O'Connor's retirement Ginsburg was joined in 2009 by Sonia Sotomayor ,
14355-1206: The first Hispanic and Latina justice, and in 2010 by Elena Kagan. After Ginsburg's death on September 18, 2020, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the fifth woman in the court's history on October 26, 2020. Ketanji Brown Jackson is the sixth woman and first African-American woman on the court. There have been six foreign-born justices in the court's history: James Wilson (1789–1798), born in Caskardy , Scotland; James Iredell (1790–1799), born in Lewes , England; William Paterson (1793–1806), born in County Antrim , Ireland; David Brewer (1889–1910), born to American missionaries in Smyrna , Ottoman Empire (now İzmir , Turkey); George Sutherland (1922–1939), born in Buckinghamshire , England; and Felix Frankfurter (1939–1962), born in Vienna , Austria-Hungary (now in Austria). Since 1789, about one-third of
14500-407: The full Senate. President Lyndon B. Johnson 's nomination of sitting associate justice Abe Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice in 1968 was the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. It included both Republican and Democratic senators concerned with Fortas's ethics. President Donald Trump 's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia 's death
14645-529: The hope of guiding executive action. The Supreme Court's 2014 decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning limited the ability of the president to make recess appointments (including appointments to the Supreme Court); the court ruled that the Senate decides when the Senate is in session or in recess. Writing for the court, Justice Breyer stated, "We hold that, for purposes of
14790-471: The justices have been U.S. military veterans. Samuel Alito is the only veteran currently serving on the court. Retired justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy also served in the U.S. military. Justices are nominated by the president in power, and receive confirmation by the Senate, historically holding many of the views of the nominating president's political party. While justices do not represent or receive official endorsements from political parties, as
14935-466: The mandatory Pledge of Allegiance ( Minersville School District v. Gobitis ). Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated ( West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette ), and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend. The Warren Court (1953–1969) dramatically expanded the force of Constitutional civil liberties . It held that segregation in public schools violates
15080-405: The more moderate Republican justices retired, the court has become more partisan. The Court became more divided sharply along partisan lines with justices appointed by Republican presidents taking increasingly conservative positions and those appointed by Democrats taking moderate liberal positions. Following the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg ,
15225-428: The most recent justice to join the court is Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose tenure began on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the Senate on April 7. This graphical timeline depicts the length of each current Supreme Court justice's tenure (not seniority, as the chief justice has seniority over all associate justices regardless of tenure) on the court: The court currently has five male and four female justices. Among
15370-461: The nation's boundaries grew across the continent and as Supreme Court justices in those days had to ride the circuit , an arduous process requiring long travel on horseback or carriage over harsh terrain that resulted in months-long extended stays away from home, Congress added justices to correspond with the growth such that the number of seats for associate justices plus the chief justice became seven in 1807 , nine in 1837 , and ten in 1863 . At
15515-493: The new Civil War amendments to the Constitution and developed the doctrine of substantive due process ( Lochner v. New York ; Adair v. United States ). The size of the court was last changed in 1869, when it was set at nine. Under the White and Taft Courts (1910–1930), the court held that the Fourteenth Amendment had incorporated some guarantees of the Bill of Rights against
15660-711: The new appointment, Roberts, whose work had previously been confidential, became a prominent figure at the Supreme Court, leading the filings of the Bush administration and representing it in the media. As deputy solicitor general, Roberts frequently appeared before the Supreme Court. He argued for a number of conservative positions, including those against abortion, an extensive federal jurisdiction and policies that afforded special benefits to minority groups. In 1990, he successfully argued his first case in Atlantic Richfield Company v. USA Petroleum Company , which concerned anti-trust law, and then successfully argued
15805-412: The new president Ulysses S. Grant , a Republican, signed into law the Judiciary Act of 1869 . This returned the number of justices to nine (where it has since remained), and allowed Grant to immediately appoint two more judges. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to expand the court in 1937. His proposal envisioned the appointment of one additional justice for each incumbent justice who reached
15950-447: The nine justices, there are two African American justices (Justices Thomas and Jackson ) and one Hispanic justice (Justice Sotomayor ). One of the justices was born to at least one immigrant parent: Justice Alito 's father was born in Italy. At least six justices are Roman Catholics , one is Jewish , and one is Protestant . It is unclear whether Neil Gorsuch considers himself
16095-408: The nomination should go to the full Senate with a positive, negative or neutral report. The committee's practice of personally interviewing nominees is relatively recent. The first nominee to appear before the committee was Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925, who sought to quell concerns about his links to Wall Street , and the modern practice of questioning began with John Marshall Harlan II in 1955. Once
16240-667: The party to become an independent , jeopardizing Roberts's candidacy, which stalled once again when Senate Democrats refused to hold any nomination hearings. In 2002, Republicans regained control of the Senate and Roberts finally received a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Supported by a bipartisan letter of support signed by more than 150 members of the District of Columbia Bar —including White House counsels Lloyd Cutler , C. Boyden Gray , and Solicitor General Seth Waxman —the Judiciary Committee recommended Roberts by
16385-514: The party, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did not bring it to the floor for a vote. Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden established a presidential commission to study possible reforms to the Supreme Court. The commission's December 2021 final report discussed but took no position on expanding the size of the court. At nine members, the U.S. Supreme Court
16530-399: The power to remove justices and to ensure judicial independence . No constitutional mechanism exists for removing a justice who is permanently incapacitated by illness or injury, but unable (or unwilling) to resign. The only justice ever to be impeached was Samuel Chase , in 1804. The House of Representatives adopted eight articles of impeachment against him; however, he was acquitted by
16675-617: The precedent, it was not legally bound to uphold it. In his Senate testimony, Roberts said that, while sitting on the Appellate Court , he had an obligation to respect precedents established by the Supreme Court, including the right to abortion. He said: " Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent, as well as Casey ." Following nominees' traditional reluctance to indicate which way they might vote on an issue likely to come before
16820-399: The presumption against extraterritorial application "may require some further elaboration and explanation." Justice Alito , joined by Justice Thomas , agreed that the statute does not apply extraterritorially and argued that it should be read to apply to only the international law violations that had been identified by William Blackstone in 1769: violation of safe conducts, infringement of
16965-420: The presumption against extraterritoriality should still apply to the statute because of the danger of judicial interference in foreign policy. The Court further reasoned that nothing in the text, history or purposes of the ATS rebuts the presumption. The common law transitory torts doctrine, which holds that causes based on a transitory action arising abroad may be considered as happening domestically, helps rebut
17110-405: The presumption, as the statute may have other meanings. The Court also disregarded a 1795 opinion by Attorney General William Bradford that "there can be no doubt" of tort liability for American citizens who had been plundering inside Sierra Leone . The Bradford Opinion was a response to British complaints about US citizens who violated a treaty between the United States and Britain by joining
17255-531: The questions at issue. In a 2–1 decision issued on September 17, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that corporations cannot be held liable for violations of customary international law: Kiobel petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the Second Circuit's decision. It was granted on October 17, 2011. Oral arguments were held on February 28, 2012, with Kathleen Sullivan arguing for Shell and Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler arguing as
17400-448: The respect of John Paul Stevens and the Court's liberals. Democrats and Republicans alike widely viewed Roberts as one of the Supreme Court's most distinguished advocates. When George W. Bush won the contested 2000 presidential election , journalists speculated about whom he might consider as possible nominees for the Supreme Court. Luttig, Wilkinson, and other Reagan officials were leading candidates, but Judge Alberto Gonzales of
17545-428: The rights of ambassadors, and piracy. Justice Breyer , joined by Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan, concurred with the judgment but rejected the Court's reasoning. The four justices did not believe that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to the ATS. Instead, the concurrence sees ATS jurisdiction as limited to when the tort occurs on American soil, the defendant is an American national, or when there
17690-512: The school's football team, participated in track and field , and was a regional champion in wrestling . He also participated in choir and drama , and was a co-editor of the school newspaper. He graduated in 1973 as class valedictorian , becoming the first graduate of the La Lumiere School to enroll at Harvard University. At Harvard College , Roberts dedicated himself to studying history, his academic major . He had entered Harvard as
17835-595: The ship's flag state . He then outlines the long history of an international duty to not provide safe harbor to hostis humani generis, or the common enemy of mankind. He then reviews thirty years of U.S. Court of Appeals cases holding for extraterritorial application of the ATS. The concurrence takes issue with the majority's characterization of the ATS as "uniquely hospitable" by noting that many countries permit extraterritorial suits, citing Dutch, English, International Court of Justice , and European Commission sources. The Court's concern on unwarranted judicial interference in
17980-407: The shortest period of time between vacancies in the court's history. Sometimes a great length of time passes between vacancies, such as the 11-year span, from 1994 to 2005, from the retirement of Harry Blackmun to the death of William Rehnquist , which was the second longest timespan between vacancies in the court's history. On average a new justice joins the court about every two years. Despite
18125-677: The significance of the "touch and concern" test remains unclear. Kiobel is considered a 'foreign cubed' case in which foreign plaintiffs made a claim against a foreign company for human rights violations overseas. The plaintiffs in Kiobel were citizens of Nigeria who claimed that Dutch, British, and Nigerian oil-exploration corporations aided and abetted the Nigerian government in the 1990s to commit violations of customary international law . The plaintiffs claimed that Royal Dutch Shell compelled Shell Nigeria its Nigerian subsidiary, in cooperation with
18270-554: The state of New York, two are from Washington, D.C., and one each is from New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, and Louisiana. Eight of the current justices received their Juris Doctor from an Ivy League law school : Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and John Roberts from Harvard ; plus Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh , Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas from Yale . Only Amy Coney Barrett did not; she received her Juris Doctor at Notre Dame . Previous positions or offices, judicial or federal government, prior to joining
18415-528: The states ( Gitlow v. New York ), grappled with the new antitrust statutes ( Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States ), upheld the constitutionality of military conscription ( Selective Draft Law Cases ), and brought the substantive due process doctrine to its first apogee ( Adkins v. Children's Hospital ). During the Hughes , Stone , and Vinson courts (1930–1953), the court gained its own accommodation in 1935 and changed its interpretation of
18560-614: The subjects the Supreme Court may hear, it may limit the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts to prevent them from hearing cases dealing with certain subjects. Nevertheless, it is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford , which helped precipitate the American Civil War . In the Reconstruction era , the Chase , Waite , and Fuller Courts (1864–1910) interpreted
18705-466: The supreme expositor of the Constitution ( Marbury v. Madison ) and making several important constitutional rulings that gave shape and substance to the balance of power between the federal government and states, notably Martin v. Hunter's Lessee , McCulloch v. Maryland , and Gibbons v. Ogden . The Marshall Court also ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim ,
18850-468: The times." Proposals to solve these problems include term limits for justices, as proposed by Levinson and Sabato and a mandatory retirement age proposed by Richard Epstein , among others. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 argued that one benefit of lifetime tenure was that, "nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office." Article Three, Section 1 of
18995-459: The top 15 students in a class of 550 and won him membership of the Harvard Law Review . The journal's president, David Leebron , chose Roberts as its managing editor , despite their differing political views. Classmate David Wilkins described Roberts as "more conservative than the typical Harvard Law student in the 1970s" but well-liked by fellow students. In 1979, Roberts graduated at
19140-416: The top advocates of his generation". According to biographer Joan Biskupic , he built a reputation "for his powers of persuasion and tireless preparation", and "his meticulous preparation and unflagging composure inspired confidence among his well-heeled clients." His arguments against government regulation often appealed to Rehnquist and the Court's conservatives while his style and skill in rhetoric won him
19285-407: The top of his class with a Juris Doctor , magna cum laude , despite having to admit himself to a local hospital for exhaustion. He later regretted that during his time at Harvard, he traveled into Boston on only a couple of occasions, being too preoccupied with his studies. After graduating from law school, Roberts was a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly , one of the most influential judges of
19430-447: The variability, all but four presidents have been able to appoint at least one justice. William Henry Harrison died a month after taking office, although his successor ( John Tyler ) made an appointment during that presidential term. Likewise, Zachary Taylor died 16 months after taking office, but his successor ( Millard Fillmore ) also made a Supreme Court nomination before the end of that term. Andrew Johnson, who became president after
19575-402: The violations with sufficient particularity. The court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss with respect to the remaining claims of aiding and abetting arbitrary arrest and detention ; crimes against humanity; and torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment . The district court then certified its entire order for interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit based on the serious nature of
19720-432: The wrong in question. Second, they contended that no norm has ever existed between nations that imposes liability upon corporate actors. On September 29, 2006, the district court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims for aiding and abetting property destruction; forced exile; extrajudicial killing ; and violation of the rights to life, liberty, security, and association. It reasoned that customary international law did not define
19865-434: Was Principal Deputy Solicitor General , after which he built a leading appellate practice and argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush nominated Roberts to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , but the Senate did not hold a vote on his confirmation. In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Roberts to the D.C. Circuit. In 2005, Bush nominated Roberts to
20010-511: Was affected and that cases weren't going to be thrown out that way. Lopez certainly breathed new life into the Commerce Clause . I think it remains to be seen, in subsequent decisions, how rigorous a showing, and in many cases, it is just a showing. It's not a question of an abstract fact—does this affect interstate commerce or not—but has this body, the Congress, demonstrated the impact on interstate commerce that drove them to legislate? That's
20155-607: Was chief of staff to attorney general William French Smith , and Roberts was named a special assistant to the attorney general. After being admitted to the District of Columbia bar and arriving to the Department of Justice in August 1981, he helped Sandra Day O'Connor prepare for her confirmation hearings. As an assistant to the attorney general, Roberts concentrated on the scope of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , especially Section 2 and Section 5 , both of which Roberts and other Reagan lawyers believed to have unnecessarily intruded on state regulations. He wrote to Friendly, "this
20300-453: Was defeated 70–20 in the Senate, and the Senate Judiciary Committee reported that it was "essential to the continuance of our constitutional democracy" that the proposal "be so emphatically rejected that its parallel will never again be presented to the free representatives of the free people of America." The expansion of a 5–4 conservative majority to a 6–3 supermajority during the first presidency of Donald Trump led to analysts calling
20445-459: Was not acted on by the Senate; Eisenhower re-nominated Harlan in January 1955, and Harlan was confirmed two months later. Most recently, the Senate failed to act on the March 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland, as the nomination expired in January 2017, and the vacancy was filled by Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of President Trump. Once the Senate confirms a nomination, the president must prepare and sign
20590-474: Was one of the most prominent advocates in the country along with Rex E. Lee . Roberts also built a successful practice as an appellate lawyer, heading the firm's division for appellate advocacy. He made his first appearance before the Supreme Court in United States v. Halper , arguing against the government, and the Court unanimously upheld his arguments. In 1989, Ken Starr relinquished his judgeship on
20735-565: Was raised Catholic in Northwest Indiana and studied at Harvard University with the initial intent to become a historian, graduating in three years with highest distinction, then attended Harvard Law School , where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review . Before holding positions in the Reagan and senior Bush administration , Roberts served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly and Justice William Rehnquist . From 1989 to 1993, he
20880-627: Was the second. Unlike the Fortas filibuster, only Democratic senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination, citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy, and the Republican majority's prior refusal to take up President Barack Obama 's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy. This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. Not every Supreme Court nominee has received
21025-475: Was while debating the separation of powers between the legislative and executive departments that delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention established the parameters for the national judiciary . Creating a "third branch" of government was a novel idea ; in the English tradition, judicial matters had been treated as an aspect of royal (executive) authority. Early on, the delegates who were opposed to having
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