John Roberts Sees Himself as 'Honest Broker' Among the Justices

[falcon-embed src="embed_1"] Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who famously once described his job as that of an umpire calling balls and strikes, on Friday offered a new definition. “I feel some obligation to be something of an honest broker among my colleagues and won't necessarily go out of my way to pick fights,” Roberts said at the biennial conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He also said that at times, “You would sort of sublimate your views.” His fleeting comment came against the backdrop of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement last week, which spawned speculation that Roberts would replace Kennedy as the court’s swing vote in hot-button cases. Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III had asked Roberts generally about the role of the chief justice, not specifically whether that role will change in the post-Kennedy era: “Do you feel that the weight of the office circumscribes your freedom in a way that an associate justice does not face?” Roberts said “there is something to that,” and that unlike some of his colleagues who “like to dissent,” he sometimes will remain silent, though that “may be more just an individual preference.” Whether Roberts’ desire not to “pick fights” will translate into votes that calm the waters and preserve settled precedents is difficult to predict. The chief justice paid tribute to Kennedy at the beginning of the conversation with Wilkinson at the Greenbrier Resort at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. “He was an extraordinary man, an extraordinary jurist, he was deeply committed to collegiality and civil discourse. He taught that by example,” Roberts said. “Very widely read, very thoughtful. You know, one moment he's talking about Socrates and Plato and the next moment he’s talking about his time as a teenager working oils rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.” Roberts expressed hope that Kennedy, 81, “will continue to be a wonderful ambassador for the court” in appearances around the nation and globally, as he has done during his tenure on the court. “He never uses notes and yet will talk, can talk for 45 minutes without a note, and hold people really spellbound.” Asked about recent studies indicating that female justices and advocates are interrupted more often than male justices during oral argument, Roberts said he was aware of the studies, but said that it was difficult for anyone to get a word in edgewise during modern-day oral arguments. “Putting aside the question of who's interrupting whom, we do need to do a better job, and I hope we will going forward, of giving the lawyers a chance to participate,” Roberts said, echoing what he has said on the subject of excessive questioning for years. Roberts was asked another perennial question: whether the time has come to televise Supreme Court arguments. “No,” was Roberts’s quick reply. “We have taken a lot of steps to make the court more accessible,” Roberts said, but broadcasting arguments is different. “Television changes a lot. And I ask people which public institution has been improved by being televised.” Roberts posited the fictitious Supreme Court case of “ABC Automotive Company” that is the target of employment discrimination complaints. “You know their lawyer, if it's going to be viewed by however many millions of people, is going to get up and start some speech about how the ABC Company would never discriminate against anybody.” The lawyer might also throw in, “You know, besides, our new sport coupe gets 28 miles per gallon,” Roberts added, while the actual issue at stake in the case might get lost. “The courtroom is a very special place,” Roberts concluded. “It may be that part of what is special is that you don't see it on television.” Read more: Kennedy's Retirement Leaves His Future Law Clerks in Limbo The Justices' Statements: Kennedy 'Earned a Rousing Bravo,' RBG Says Repudiation of 'Korematsu' Is Bittersweet for Rights Advocates Sotomayor Says She's Optimistic About New Law Clerk Hiring Plan