John Roberts

John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. He has been described as having a moderate conservative judicial philosophy, though he is primarily an institutionalist. For his willingness to work with the Supreme Court's liberal bloc, Roberts has been regarded as a swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Roberts grew up in Northwest Indiana and was educated in a series of Catholic schools. He studied at Harvard University with the initial intent to become a historian, graduating in three years with highest distinction. He attended Harvard Law School afterwards, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly and Justice William Rehnquist before taking a position in the Reagan administration. He also served under the senior Bush administration in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel, during which time he was nominated by George H. W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but no vote on his nomination was held. For 14 years, Roberts was in private practice and argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court. Notably, he represented 19 states in United States v. Microsoft Corp.

President George W. Bush appointed Roberts as an appellate judge of the D.C. Circuit in 2003. During his two-year tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts authored 49 opinions, eliciting two dissents from other judges, and authoring three dissents of his own. In 2005, Bush nominated Roberts to the Supreme Court, initially to be an associate justice to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Chief Justice William Rehnquist died shortly afterward, however, before Roberts's Senate confirmation hearings had begun. Bush then withdrew Roberts's nomination and instead nominated him to become Chief Justice, choosing Samuel Alito to replace O'Connor.

Roberts has authored majority opinions in many important cases, including decisions relating to elections, federal agencies, presidential power, the Affordable Care Act, and race-based college admissions.