Quick legal question... can Roberts be replaced as Chief Justice with another SC judge?

[flying_wahini]

[Demsrule86]

1. No...and what difference would it make?

[emulatorloo]

2. Alito is effectively Chief Justice now. Roberts can't control these psychos any more.

He tried to keep Roe v Wade from being overturned but could not stop them

[Zeitghost]

5. No Chief Justice has control

Or power over their fellow Justices.

[FBaggins]

8. Not Alito, Thomas

The principal power of the CJ is assigning the authorship of majority opinions, assuming he's in the majority. If he isn't, then the longest-serving justice on the majority fills that role.

That's Thomas.

[emulatorloo]

16. Didn't Alito author this abomination? Thomas just chimed in at the end to go after gays

Correct me if I am wrong

[FBaggins]

18. Alito did indeed author it

And Thomas selected him to do so.

[Zeitghost]

3. Only if he resigns

Wouldn't do much good either way. He has no real power above and beyond the other justices.

[milestogo]

4. He should be replaced with Jamie Raskin.

[Ocelot II]

6. No. It wouldn't matter anyhow, since CJ is basically an admin job

without any real power over the other justices. He can influence them - maybe - but he can't control them.

[unblock]

7. Even if a president could demote him, the court could effectively ignore it

The court can name its own rules for its own operations just as the other branches, at least where the constitution is silent. And the constitution says basically nothing about the court's operations.

So if Robert's were somehow demoted, the court could create a new internal office, vote him to it, and give that office all the authority that the Chief Justice role used to have.

So really Roberts would need to be improved and removed, resign, or die. Otherwise, he remains Chief Justice.

[flying_wahini]

9. The reason I ask is that I see comments about Roberts has lost control of SCOTUS.

I was just spitballing here. Thinking if Biden Did rebalance the court and added more Justices if there was any hope of getting the SCOTUS back. Guess not.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

11. Robert's never had control of SCOTUS to begin with

His role has Chief is more administrative in nature. Not overall control of the court.

[Rebl2]

10. So who

decides who is Chief Justice. Does the president decide that if something happens to the current CJ?

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

12. Yes

Same procedure as any other vacancy on the court.

[Rebl2]

13. So if Roberts

left, Biden could pick one of the liberal justice’s.

[onenote]

17. He could pick one of the current justices or a new one - but a new confirmation would be required

either way.

[Rebl2]

20. Okay

Answered my question.

[jimfields33]

14. I actually think that seat is always the Chief Justice no matter what

I believe Robert’s replaced rehnquest..

[euphorb]

19. Not quite.

It is true that Robert’s was appointed to replace Rehnquist. However, when Burger resigned as Chief Justice, Rehnquist, who was already on the court as an Associate Justice and had been confirmed to that position, was nominated as the new Chief Justice and had to go through another confirmation hearing for that position. Scalia was then nominated to fill the seat Rehnquist vacated as Associate Justice.

[H2O Man]

15. He has been replaced

by Thomas in leadership on the court.