John Roberts was nominated for a position on the U.S.A. Court of Appeals in January 2003 and soon confirmed by the voting majority. His activities are considered to be very influential on the system of justice in general. During two years of him on the position Roberts wrote more than 49, most of which were quite significant and only 2 of them were unanimous. On 2005 John Roberts was nominated to fill the vacancy of the Chief Justice. Since that time the impact of his decisions dramatically increased. That is why it is important to conduct thorough research of the impact of Roberts on the further development of U.S. Supreme Court of justice. In order to receive results which may be trusted we plan to use official and relevant sources, minimizing at the same our subjective estimations.
First of all, it is necessary to present a brief overview of the most significant cases which were considered by Roberts previously to his nomination as the Chief of Justice. There were several controversial cases such as Hedgepeth v.Washington Metro Transit Authority when 12-year-old girl was arrested because she ate food at the Washington D.C. Metro station. Another huge investigation in which Roberts took part was the unanimous ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. The «enemy combatants» were charged during this particular case.
During these particular cases which were mentioned above Roberts acted as professional of the highest level, what is even more important, his personal authority was highly appreciated by colleagues. This fact backed out his further nomination and activities as the Chief Justice.
The most crucial opinions in his quite brief tenure on the Court were as follows:
Exempt of the local governments from procedural requirements in some cases
Minimization of the exclusionary rights
Formulation of the new criteria in voluntary desegregation policies
Reforming of the health-care system
According to Crease Mitchell, Roberts was brave enough to make controversial decisions which require the maximum judges expertise and proficiency. One of the most controversial decisions in his practice came in 2010. The Chief Justice Roberts concurred with Justice Kennedy, the case was named – Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and stated the right of corporations equals to the right of citizens who are involved in political disputes. This decision was negatively accepted by critics and considered as a great deal ignorant to the discrepancy which exists between company and average citizen. It seemed that the decision was opposite to the reforms implemented within this sphere during previous years. Some of these reforms were aimed to limit the power of particular groups to influence voters. Supporters believed that Roberts decision had rather positive influence on the further development of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Another important case was considered by Roberts in June 2012. He approved the credentials in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by the President Barack Obama. At the same time the Act paid little attention to other significant pieces of the American legislature such as free medical services for citizens, policies of insurance companies, specific permissions for citizens under age 26.
Nevertheless Roberts is considered to be justice who defined the future of the healthcare reform. His influence on the system of healthcare is hard to overestimate. Some people said that his decision was made under pressure, because he changed his mind and this change was fatal for the adoption of reform submitted. Others supposed that the final opinion of Roberts concerning this case was the only rational one. It was taken as the result of thorough analysis of the possible outcomes. Furthermore the decision backed Obamas mandate up and resulted in increased support by voters.
Another well-known case is Murbery v. Madison that considered the problem of juridical review. In this case Robertson approved the parliament law which became a precedent for other similar cases. The case started with application of W. Murbery. It is thoroughly analyzed within different reports concerning this topic.
Within the format of our review it is better to provide the general analysis without detailed description to mention more cases in which John Roberts took part.
Roberts also ruled on two landmark legislative cases which took part in June 2015. The legality of Obamas care system was reaffirmed when Roberts supported the subsidy program in King v. Burwell.
At the same time John Roberts is rather conservative person by his nature that of course is reflected on his opinions. That is why he voted against the decision of the court concerning gay marriage, the decision which made gay marriages legal in more than 50 states. He supposed that such opinion undermines the democratic system of the country. Consequently he remained bold and raised up against such a modification. According to Roberts the law on gay marriages may result in the expansion of commitment to the partner, strengthening the dignity of human choice, but nevertheless it is opposite to the Constitution and adoption of such a law is the direct neglecting of that document.
In general John Roberts for sure has significantly powerful position. His right of veto is backed up enough in order to change the event developments. His authority is widely influential in order to decide who is to write and implement particular law; he also sets up the rules of opinion adoption and manages important operational processes which may bring dramatic amendments to the final outcomes. There is an example to be presented of the Berry v. Niemen case when John Roberts changed some organizational issues and as a result the case was ruled more successfully. There is no doubt that the role of details in legislation is hard to be overestimated. And according to the journalist Michael Posner, Roberts has always thoroughly analyzed cases of different levels with the same attention.
The actions made by John Roberts as by every influential person are largely followed by press. There are both advantages and disadvantages of this fact. For instance, when being the Chief Court Justice some electronic sources released the information that he was blackmailed into supporting Obamacare. We have previously mentioned this case, but let us give more detailed description of its consequences.
When John Roberts cast the deciding vote for consideration of Obama Care as a legal task, analytics were rather surprised because it was rather unusual opinion for Roberts, bearing in mind his previous years of work. The jokes appeared that he was driven crazy by his works as there is no rational explanation of such an act. Some believed that he took this decision under enormous pressure. And there has always been particular information that Obama administration was blackmailing Chief Justice John Roberts. That looked true-to-life because some previous jitters of the fact that Obama practiced Chicago-oriented approach were confirmed.
Nevertheless the leak of information concerning the adoption of this case was rather impossible, it was rather private adoption, which means no agency involved. If some governmental tricks were to take place they might have gained tremendous power over Roberts. In the case of threat by the children health, it is evidently that Roberts ranked their lives higher than professional ethics.
We gave rather brief overview of the information available concerning this fact, but it does not reflect our personal attitude and the purpose is just to list main factors that possible influenced his decision.
When he approved this law it is fair to say that he rewrote quite significant part of American legislature and the consequences of such act were very significant.
It is also very important to analyze the impact of the activities of the Supreme Court on the different groups of people and organizations, especially on the business structures. Since Roberts joint the Supreme Court some positive outcomes happened. He has allowed corporations to make free spending during the elections.
Business groups considered the decisions of Roberts to have quite positive impact on the further business development. New opportunities became available for the entities. The opinions of Roberts have helped combat lawsuits; also rulings have destroyed the legitimate claims for harm from different frauds, products with faults etc.
The overall business environment is also enhanced. And the impact of Roberts was crucial on the business development. According to Fleming Fox, Roberts is the most influential backer of the American corporations.
It is also important to give a brief overview of the cases ruled by Roberts at this particular sphere. In the case McDonald v. Chicago the court said the Second Amendment protections on gun ownership apply to gun control. This decision simplified the operational opportunities for gun companies and had positive influence on their further development.
In another significant case Skilling v. United States the Supreme Court limited a federal law identifying the process of depriving employers of the natural rights as the crime.
Here is a list of other very significant cases which influenced the business environment dramatically:
Graham v. Florida
Citizens United v. Federal Election commission
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
District of Columbia v. Heller
Speaking about the police practice cases the Supreme Court is authorized to decide the issues to be determined accordingly to the law enforcement interests, and particular cases of the crime solving. But all the decisions are rather influenced by the Supreme Chief Justice. Roberts is sometimes considered to be the person who saved additional days at the wheel for liberals. Close followers of the Supreme Court noted that John Roberts is usually the author of the most crucial decisions which have ever been taken.
In most cases with the exception of the Healthcare law Roberts acts rather independently from the views of majority. At the same time he is one of the most trusted justices by the public because of his unique way of thinking and behavior. He is respected for the formulation of different precedents which are soon to turn into commonly used practice. Near six of each ten decisions are to become precedents.
Roberts is supposed to be the master of conservative stealth as was mentioned above. His actions are considered to be rather philosophy of justice. Even the most complicated cases are to be resolved by The Supreme Court of Justice.
It is import to mention that the Supreme Court of Justice involves eight justices except Roberts but his authority is rather supreme, that is why he could apply the right of veto to almost all of the decisions to be taken.
Conclusions
The objectives of this research may be defined as achieved. The impact of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is defined. Let us give the final overview of the results achieved.
First of all, we analyzed the factors of influence on the decision-making by John Roberts. He had great experience of dealing with complicated cases, so when he was nominated to hold the position of the Supreme Court of Justice his experience included many years of practice and dealing with the most complicated cases.
Secondly, the opinions of Roberts which are taken may be considered as rather conservative. This fact is not very appreciated by the public, but at the same time it helps Robertson to remain authoritative and influential within the sphere of the justice professionals. He has his own approach to the justice, which helps him to solve the hardest cases.
Thirdly, as we defined all the cases to be considered by Robertson have some specific outcomes and are really influential on the American legislature. Particular decisions such as Obama care turn into the history and are crucial.
Fourthly, the impact of Robertson is really high on the particular groups. For instance, some opinions changed significantly the business environment for some companies. But in general, the influence of Robertson on the corporate structures is positive enough to provide the base of the further development of the law system concerning the business entities.
Fifthly, new challenges are submitted by Robertson with honor that is why his decisions remain to be independent from the views of majority. Also this can be misunderstood by public; in general it results in better understanding of the decisions took place.
That is why the influence of the Robertsons opinions on the overall American legislature is crucial enough in order to make significant systemic changes. His decisions became precedents that help other justices in the process of the case rulings.
Finally, we answered the main question of the research conducted about the level of influence of Robertson while holding the post of Chief Justice and defined the level of his authority and impact.
References
Edelman, S. (2013). The Supreme Court of Justice of USA. London: POI.
Spot, M. (2014). The role of John Robertson as the Chief Justice. Chicago: CPI.
