The West Wing - S5E7: "Separation of Powers"

[josephxuereb1]

love the fact he calls him jed,not mr president

[lekoman]

You're telling me in a thunderstorm, the lights in the White House flicker? What kind of operation are they running over there?

[YouFyrst]

Since President Harry Truman in 1946, NO Democratic president has appointed the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

[RavingDissension]

@YouFyrst

What's so special about the office of the Chief Justice? It's just a ceremonial and symbolic position. In reality, the office has just as much power as the other justices. Just 1 vote out of nine.

[YouFyrst]

@RavingDissension The Chief Justice determines who writes the majority opinion of the court, calls the court into session, presides over the US Senate impeachment trial of the president, and swears in the president and vice president of the United States. The court is referred to as the Roberts Court (the Reinquest Court, the Berger Court...the Marshall Court, etc.) You are right...it is mainly ceremonial. However, the CJ, does have a significant role in how our govt functions.

[RavingDissension]

@YouFyrst

"swears in the president and vice president of the United States"

Ceremonial role and devoid of authority.

"presides over the US Senate impeachment trial of the president"

Procedural role with little sway as to the conviction.

"calls the court into session"

I call my girlfriend to dinner, but it doesn't mean I'm in charge.

"determines who writes the majority opinion of the court,"

All justices have the option of drafting a concurrent/dissenting opinion if the majority doesn't impress.

[YouFyrst]

@RavingDissension I'm sorry, I did not mean to stir up a debate. I find value in the CJ. You are correct that each justice may submit their own concurring or dissenting opinion, but the CJ always has the final say on who write the majority opinion (even if the CJ is not in the majority). I am not going to continue this conversation because I am not interested in being adversarial. I was simply stating a fact about the lack of Democratic presidents having a role in selecting the chief justice.

[jesusthroughmary]

@RavingDissension The Chief Justice of the United States (not "of the Supreme Court") has significant influence (although not legal authority as you correctly state) to set the agenda of the Court and to decide which cases will be heard. Outside the Court, he is the head of the entire federal judiciary and is the chair of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which promulgates the rules of procedure and evidence for the entire federal court system. 

[RavingDissension]

@jesusthroughmary

"he is the head of the entire federal judiciary"

Yeah, so?

"chair of the Judicial Conference of the United States"

The conference is a procedural setting group. In terms of legal authority, all federal jurists are still independent.

You can copy/paste all the duties from Wikipedia, but it doesn't change the fact that the CJ is marginally more influential than his peers. His additional duties can be summed in one or more of the following: ceremonial, formal, or honorary.

[jesusthroughmary]

@RavingDissension Legal authority is one thing, power is another. Some jobs have power that exceed their legal authority, for example the President. Influence does matter.

[RavingDissension]

@jesusthroughmary

"Legal authority is one thing, power is another."

True, but in the previous example, they are, for practical purposes, the same.

[emmyjo720]

This seems so relevent with Obama in power.

[muribes]

Milo O'Shea was also Friar Laurence in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

[MegaObserver1]

Milo O'Shea. He was the judge in "The Verdict".

[Surax]

Why are the lights flickering? I get that there's a storm but I would hope that the White House has some sort of backup generators or something to keep the power going.

[calr92]

@Surax a visual metaphor. the lights flcikering and dying represents bartlett's presidency