Joan Biskupic says her fourth book about a member of the United States Supreme Court involved \u201cmy most difficult subject\u201d \u2013 Chief Justice John Roberts. But, perhaps in good part for that reason, it is also attracting much attention.<\/p>\n
Roberts is \u201ca very reserved individual,\u201d Biskupic said during an \u201cOn the Issues with Mike Gousha\u201d program in the Lubar Center at Marquette Law School on Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that you see, but much more that\u2019s held back.\u201d She had the benefit of eight interviews, covering more than twenty hours, with Roberts, but she said she wonders still about what is not known about him.<\/p>\n
However, Biskupic\u2019s newly-published biography, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts<\/em>, does offer a lot, some of it not reported previously, about Roberts, who has been chief justice since 2005.<\/p>\n And in addition to a richly detailed description of Roberts\u2019 life, the book breaks new ground in describing how Roberts came to be the decisive vote in upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare, in 2012. Biskupic describes how he initially took positions opposing the constitutionality of the law during the court\u2019s work on the case, then switched his views.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he definitely did not want the whole law to go down,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m fine with saying I don\u2019t know why, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Biskupic,, who received her undergraduate degree from Marquette University, described Roberts\u2019 life, from his early years growing up in \u201can oasis community\u201d near Gary, Indiana, through his rapid career path ascent as a law clerk for then-Justice William Rehnquist, then as a Justice Department official during the Reagan administration, then as a successful attorney in private practice (he argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court) and, starting in 2003, as a federal appeals court judges. He was 50 when he was named chief justice two years later.<\/p>\n Although Roberts has talked in some widely-reported graduation speeches about the value of overcoming adversity, \u201che has been blessed\u201d with little in the way of setbacks or failures, Biskupic said. \u201dHe\u2019s had almost perfect timing throughout life.\u201d<\/p>\n While some suggest Roberts has moderated his views in order to protect the Supreme Court\u2019s standing, Biskupic said there are subjects where he has been steady in his conservative views. She pointed to cases involving issues of racial discrimination (he is firm in his view that solutions that involve racial factors are wrong) and voting rights.<\/p>\n But she said, \u201cthere is definitely no love lost\u201d between Roberts and President Donald Trump. The more Trump talks like the Supreme Court is in his pocket, the more Roberts will want to be sure that is not so, Biskupic said.<\/p>\n Roberts works to present the court as a place of collegiality, Biskupic said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not that way, at least not all the time,\u201d she said. There are justices on both the left and right who have questioned whether Roberts has been a straight shooter with them.<\/p>\n Biskupic\u2019s previous books have focused on Justices Sandra Day O\u2019Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, and Antonin Scalia. Biskupic worked previously as a reporter covering the Supreme Court for the Washington Post and USA Today ad is now a legal analyst for CNN.<\/p>\n