Chief Justice John Roberts

The 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Roberts is perhaps the chief character of "The Oath", the book being, by and large, an extended criticism of Roberts' decisions and judicial philosophy throughout his tenure as chief justice. While Toobin treats Roberts with great personal respect, never suggesting that he is dishonest or anything but thoughtful, careful, knowledgeable and principled. However, Roberts is brutally attacked for being a partisan of the Republican Party and convinced that he should use the constitution to promote conservative ideas at the expense of precedent.

Roberts claims to be "conservative" in the sense of believing in a measured approach to judicial review that does not legislate but simply reviews whether laws are constitutional as determined by court history. But Toobin argues extensively that this is not the real way that Roberts...