Civic Literacy Curriculum

Background

The role of Chief Justice of the United States has come a long way since its inception in 1789. When John Jay accepted the role and the title, he was less than excited about it, for he saw little significance to the position. He held the job for six years before retiring and returning to a diplomatic career. 

The longest-serving, and arguably most important, Chief Justice was John Marshall, who established many of the traditions and understandings that still operate today. Although judicial review had been assumed from the early constitutional debates (such as in Federalist 78), and the Supreme Court had assessed the constitutionality of federal laws in its early years, the Supreme Court had not ended up using the power to actually strike down a federal law until Marshall. In the famous case of Marbury v. Madison (1803), Marshall built on the writings of Hamilton and others to give the clearest defense of why the Court was authorized to enforce the Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, in striking down unconstitutional laws while hearing legal disputes. He also initiated the practice in which justices deliver an opinion of the Court—written by one and co-signed by any others who agreed with its logic—rather than each justice writing a separate and similar opinion. This results not only in less work for the justices but with one clear opinion, it means lower courts have an easier time applying precedent.

Some Chief Justices, like Marshall, were appointed directly to be chief justice. Others, such as Edward Douglass White or William Rehnquist, were initially associate justices before being nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as Chief Justice. John Roberts, the current chief justice, was initially nominated to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor, but after Rehnquist died before Roberts’s confirmation to the associate justice position his nomination was switched to chief justice. (Roberts had been one of Rehnquist’s clerks and served as a pallbearer at his funeral).

There is only one specific duty assigned to the Chief Justice by the Constitution, and that is to preside when the president is on trial. Otherwise, the distinctive responsibilities of the Chief Justice are largely administrative and traditional. The Chief Justice is responsible for presiding over oral arguments in the Supreme Court. 

Arguably the most important task of the Chief Justice is assigning who will write the majority opinion once a decision has been made. Although like the associate justices, the Chief Justice casts only one vote, if the Chief Justice is in the majority the chief assigns who writes the opinion— including, perhaps, the chief himself or herself. (If the chief is in dissent, the most senior associate justices assigns the opinion). This helps shape the court’s precedents, since different justices will offer different reasoning in justifying the decision. 

The Chief Justice is also responsible for writing an annual report on the state of the court system for Congress, sitting on the boards of various museums, and acting as Chancellor for the Smithsonian Institute. Another traditional role is to administer the Oath of Office for the incoming President of the United States.