chief justice

also Chief Justice
n. (Abbr. CJ)
The presiding judge of a high court having several judges, especially the U.S. Supreme Court.

chief justice

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The chief justice of the United States is the presiding officer of the Supreme Court and the head of the judicial branch of the federal government. The title chief justice is mentioned only once, however, in the U.S. Constitution: Article 1, Section 3, mandates that the chief justice serve as presiding officer of the Senate during an impeachment trial of a President. The office of chief justice is not mentioned in Article 3 of the Constitution, which deals with the judicial branch of the federal government.

The office of chief justice was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The position has truly been shaped by its occupants, who have established the roles and duties as they performed them. In addition, Congress contributed to development of this office through legislation.

Since 1789, the office of chief justice has developed into a complex and prestigious position. The person occupying this position must serve as Supreme Court leader, judge, administrator, and national symbol of justice under the law.

The chief justice, like the eight associate justices of the Supreme Court, is appointed by the President of the United States “with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” as provided by Article 2, Section 2, of the Constitution. The chief justice, the eight associate justices, and the federal judges of the lower courts “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” according to Article 3, Section 1, of the Constitution, which provides lifetime job security for judges who want it. Further, Article 3, Section 1, says the pay of federal judges “shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.” Thus, the Constitution provides for the independence of the chief justice, the eight associate justices, and other federal judges.

The chief justice has been called “first among equals” in his relationships with the eight associate justices. He has only one vote, as they do, in deciding cases. The chief justice and the eight associate justices are equal in their virtual lifetime tenure, in their protection against decreases in income, and in their independence as judicial decision makers on cases before the Court. The chief justice also must perform the work of a judge, along with his eight associates. Together, the chief and his associates review and make decisions on all petitions for certiorari (appeals from lower courts for a hearing before the Supreme Court); he must also examine, discuss, and decide, like his associates, all the cases that come to the Court. The chief shares with his associates the work of writing opinions for the Court.

Unlike his associates, however, the chief justice is the sole presiding officer of the Supreme Court. He presides at the conference during which the Court decides which cases to accept from the large number of appeals over which it has discretionary power. He also presides over the public sessions, or hearings of cases, that come before the Court, and he chairs the private conference at which cases are discussed among the nine members of the Court and eventually decided by a vote of the justices. Finally, when the chief justice is in the majority, he has the authority to assign the task of writing the Court's opinion on the case either to himself or to one of the associate justices. Thus, the chief justice is able to influence directly or indirectly the style and substance of the Court's written opinion. When the chief justice is not part of the majority decision on a case, the most senior member of the majority assigns the writing of the Court's opinion.

In addition to his duties as presiding officer of the Supreme Court, the chief justice also serves as administrative head of the judicial branch of the federal government. He is chairman of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The conference includes 27 federal judges, who represent all the levels and regions of the federal judiciary. The conference meets twice a year to discuss common problems, to coordinate administrative policies, and to recommend to Congress measures for improving the operation of the federal courts. Administrative and budgetary functions for the conference are carried out by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The Administrative Office's director and deputy director are appointed by the Supreme Court and report to the chief justice. The chief justice is also the permanent chairman of the governing board of the Federal Judicial Center, which provides research and training services for the federal judiciary.

The chief justice has several extra-judicial responsibilities. He is manager of the Supreme Court Building. He serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, a complex of museums and research institutions operated by the federal government. And he is considered the head of the legal profession in the United States.

The chief justice is also the living symbol of the federal judiciary. In this role, the chief administers the oath of office to the President at every inauguration.

Since 1789, there have been 16 chief justices of the United States. The first chief justice was John Jay, appointed by President George Washington. President John Adams appointed the chief justice generally acclaimed as the greatest, John Marshall, who served from 1801 until his death in 1835. His tenure as chief justice was the longest. Other chief justices whom scholars and legal experts consider truly great are Roger B. Taney, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan Fiske Stone, and Earl Warren. Five chief justices, nearly one-third of the total from 1789 to 1993, have performed well enough to receive such excellent ratings.

See also Administration of federal courts; Justices of the Supreme Court

Sources

• Jeffrey B. Morris, First Among Equals: The Office of the Chief Justice of the United States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993).
• Jeffrey B. Morris, “Hail to the Chief Justice”, Constitution 4, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 1992): 40–50.
• Robert J. Steamer, Chief Justice: Leadership and the Supreme Court (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1986)

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The presiding, most senior, or principal judge of a court.

Although the office of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a prestigious position, the functions and powers of the chief justice are not well-defined. The U.S. Constitution contains only one mention of the chief justice, in Article I, Section 3, and it concerns the impeachment of the president: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." The Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the Supreme Court, specified only "[t]hat the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices" (1 Stat. 73). As a result, each individual who has occupied the post has had the freedom to shape and define the role.

Like the associate justices of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is appointed for life by the president but must first be confirmed by the Senate. Prior service on the Court is not required, though several chief justices, including Harlan F. Stone and William H. Rehnquist, served as associate justices before becoming chief justice. Many chief justices served in other branches of government before joining the Court: John Marshall and Roger B. Taney were cabinet members, Edward D. White was a U.S. senator, and Earl Warren was governor of California. Other chief justices came to the Court as judges from lower federal and state courts or practiced law prior to their appointments.

The chief justice's primary duty is to preside over all Supreme Court proceedings, both those open to the public and those held in private. The chief justice traditionally opens and closes the public sessions in which the Court hears oral arguments. He or she wields the most influence in closed-door proceedings. The chief justice determines which decisions the Court will discuss in conferences where the justices choose the cases they will accept for review. The chief justice also leads the private discussions on cases recently argued. After presenting the facts and issues in such a case and the relevant law, the chief justice states her or his conclusions and casts a vote. The discussion continues in order of seniority, with each associate justice presenting her or his views and vote.

If the chief justice is in the majority after voting has concluded, he or she assigns the writing of the opinion in the case. This critical responsibility provides the chief justice with an important opportunity to influence the outcome of the case, since he or she can assign the case to a justice who he or she believes has similar views. The chief justice may also assign the authorship of the opinion to himself or herself, as many chief justices have done in cases involving far-reaching constitutional issues. If the chief justice is not in the majority, the senior justice in the majority has the power of assignment.

The chief justice is also responsible for the overall management of the Supreme Court, including the oversight and supervision of the Court's clerks, marshal, reporter of decisions, librarian, and other officers, and the handling of various personnel management issues. The chief justice estimates the Court's budget and designates the officials to present it to the appropriate congressional committees. Although the chief justice is expected to avoid overt participation in political activities, many have acted as public advocates for the Court before Congress. William H. Taft, the only chief justice to have also served as president, actively promoted the Judiciary Act of 1925. That landmark legislation, designed to help the Court manage its large backlog of cases, gave the Court almost unlimited discretion to decide the cases it would accept for review. Warren E. Burger, chief justice from 1969 to 1986, lobbied for the establishment of a national court of appeals to help alleviate the backlog of federal cases and actively promoted other judicial reform proposals. In 1988, Rehnquist, appointed to succeed Burger, was instrumental in the passage of the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act (Pub. L. 100-702, Nov. 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 4642), which was intended to make the appeal process more efficient by reducing the Supreme Court's mandatory appeal jurisdiction.

Another responsibility of the chief justice is to oversee the administration of the entire federal judiciary. In 1922, Congress established the Judicial Conference of the United States, the governing body for the administration of the federal judicial system. As chair of the conference, the chief justice presides over the conference's biannual meeting, manages the agenda, and appoints committees. The chief justice also chairs the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, created in 1939 during Taft's term as chief justice, and the Federal Judicial Center, established in 1967 under Warren. Like the Judicial Conference, these organizations are also involved in the administration and management of the federal judiciary with the chief justice playing a major role in the selection of directors and other personnel to run them.

Congress has also provided chief justices with a number of duties not specially related to the judiciary. The chief justice traditionally serves as a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and sits on the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, both located in Washington, D.C.

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