This job carries a lot of influence!
WASHINGTON, September 6 – Many think that the Chief Justice on the Supreme Court is just that, one of nine votes in the end but the leader of the bunch. The job carries a lot more influence though. The Chief Justice has his/her hands in many important things, just to sum up a few of the most important we’ll take former Chief Justice Rehnquist’s career:
Rehnquist appointed the secret court that approves national security taps and searches, he formed the committees responsible for the rules in federal court procedures. He was also the one who named the Special Prosecutor in the impeachment procedure of Bill Clinton and he presided over the actual trial in the Senate. He has lobbied in Congress for more federal judgeships and of course higher pay for all the court positions. He’s the one who kept Congress from putting a leash on the judicial authority. In the end he’s the chief executive of an institution with over 350 employees and a whopping $70 million budget.
Another important point is the authority to name the justice who will write the majority opinion after a case has been argued and voted. Rehnquist made sure he was the one writing these opinions in most cases and there have been reports that his predecessors even switched sides just to be able to write the majority opinion. If Roberts becomes the new Chief Justice he must be able to face Tom Delay, the Republican House majority leader and most prominent member of the proposition to denounce the power of judges.
