Has there ever been a Chief Justice nominee with only 2 years experience?

[A HERETIC I AM]

Only 2 years as a judge? Ever?

I just saw on PBS that he admitted he has only handed down 50 opinions. FIFTY!!!!!! IN HIS WHOLE FUCKING CAREER!


Is it possible that John Roberts is as qualified to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as Bush is to be President?

Or Brownie to have been the head of FEMA?
Or Rove to head up the recovery of NOLA?

Or is it just that this is simply the most incompetent, unqualified administration this country has EVER seen and that we should just learn to expect this sort of thing?

[elehhhhna]

1. prolly on a small bahamian island or something, yes.

Highets court in the land? Riiiiiiiiight.

Lemme ask you: Has there evr been a successful disater manager who learned his trade as a horse show judge organizer?

[tx_dem41]

2. One of the greatest liberal CJs, Earl Warren......

had never been a judge. So, history doesn't necessarily prove your point.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. OK...fair enough. I had no idea about Warren so that answers my question.

The answer then is Yes, there has been one with less experience.

BTW....i was actually asking a question, not trying to make a point per se.

[tx_dem41]

8. William Taft also had no experience as a judge.

[CottonBear]

3. Earl Warren was the Governor of California prior to being appointed.

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4377379
"Set beside some of his predecessors, Mr Roberts may seem inexperienced. William Rehnquist had been a Supreme Court judge for 14 years before he was elevated to the top job. Earl Warren had been governor of California. William Howard Taft had been president of the United States. Mr Roberts has been an appeals-court judge for only two years."

edit: Warrens biography:
http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html

[jobycom]

4. Probably, but the inexperience is the part that bothers me the most

Roberts has had decades of experience arguing for opinions, but only two actually having to decide between others' arguments.

As for other Chief Justices without judicial experience, I don't think Earl Warren had any. He was a state AG, and a governor, but I don't think he had any bench experience. Could be wrong, though.

I wonder what that means for Roberts. As Chief Justice, he will head a co-equal branch of government, and who knows how that will affect him. Warren gave us one of the best decisions in Court history, yet he was a conservative until appointed.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Ever hear of .............

Clarence Thomas?

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. What was Thomas's experience prior to being nominated?

But then, he also isnt being nominated for CJ.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. Big deal on CJ

A vote is a vote, don't forget, even on the Supreme Court.

Go read up on Clarence Thomas. You'll love it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Ok...fair enough..I'll look into Thomas's history. Thanks

[CottonBear]

9. Ugh! n/t

[bobbieinok]

11. Abe Fortas? appted by LBJ, either senate turned down or he served briefly

[onenote]

14. Fortas was a Sup Ct Justice for 3 years before being nominated as CJ

Fortas as an attorney in private practice with no experience as a judge when he was first appointed to the Supreme Court (as a replacement for Arthur Goldberg,who resigned from the court to become ambassador to the UN!). LBJ nominated Fortas to become CJ when Earl Warren decided to retire. But Fortas' nomination became embroiled in a "scandal" over accepting $$ for some speaking enagagements and he withdrew his name from consideration. Nixon was then elected and he got to fill the Earl Warren vacancy by naming Warren Burger as CJ. Then additional questions were raised about Fortas' financial dealings and he resigned, opening a vacancy that Nixon filled with Harry Blackmun. For whatever its worth, both Blackmun and Burger were experienced Appellate Court judges before being named to the Supremes.

By the way, William O. Douglas, one of the greatest Supreme Court Justices, was never a judge either. He was a 41 year old SEC Commissioner (and former Yale professor). He ended serving on the Court for 36 years, retiring after suffering a stroke in the mid-1970s. One other tidbit -- Gerald Ford tried unsuccessfully to have Douglas impeached.

onenote

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. Good ol' DU! Thanks folks. Every day is an education on this board.

thanks for the feedback.

[BuyingThyme]

15. Yes, I think there was a guy in 1783.