"We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges...."


I understand that many of the words issued daily by 45 are bluster; but I am, I acknowledge, troubled by 45's attack today on the judiciary of the nation, specifically the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. And I am heartened that John Roberts leapt to defend that Court of Appeals and all federal jurists, stating: "We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them." He added, on Thanksgiving Eve, that an "independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for." I wholeheartedly agree.

What most Americans may not know is that John Roberts is not "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." Rather he is "CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES." My first published article (1983 - and I believe I was the first to really write about this, thanks to a great law librarian who was at UT Law School back then, Bob Bering, who posed it to me as a question: "Warren Burger is not Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Explain.") covers this topic, and, long story short, it was 150 years ago that Congress established the title of the office as "Chief Justice of the United States." (My article appears at page 109 of the 1983 issue of the Supreme Court Historical Society's Yearbook at page 109:  http://supremecourthistory.org/assets/pub_journal_1983.pdf.)

The Chief Justice of the United States not only presides over the other eight justices of the U.S. Supreme Court; he is the administrative and functional head of the entire federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, all Courts of Appeals, all District Courts, all Bankruptcy Judges, and all Magistrate Judges.

As I concluded in 1983--and nothing has changed just because 45 was elected in 2016--the "title [of this office, "Chief Justice of the United States"] accurately signifies its dignity and importance." The "independence of the Judicial Branch" (about which I has spoken) is absolutely essential to our republican form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution.

So when John Roberts rebukes 45, pay attention: it is a big deal. 45 has improperly stepped over a line here.