One of the great pleasures of awards shows like the Oscars and the Golden Globes is the sheer agglomeration of starpower that they involve. One gets to see fabulous celebrities mixing and mingling, on the red carpet or at the various after-parties, and one can't help wondering: "What could these magnificent superstars be saying to each other? What do they really think of each other?" For example: "What's Julia Roberts's opinion of Nicole Kidman? What could Jude Law be whispering in the ear of Fran Drescher -- other than 'I've always had a weakness for The Nanny!'"
Similarly, when it comes to federal judicial celebrities, one can't help wondering: "What do his fellow federal judges think of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr.? What are their views on his nomination to the Supreme Court?"
This is why Article III Groupie recently asked Judge Richard Posner for his views on Judge Roberts's nomination. (Judge Posner declined to comment.) A3G also solicited reaction to the nomination from Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski (pictured at right), who vanquished Judge Roberts last year in UTR's Superhotties of the Federal Judiciary contest. Judge Kozinski has previously described Judge Roberts as "young and extremely handsome."
Although Judge Kozinski did not offer substantive comment on the Roberts nomination, he did have a few brief observations about Judge Roberts as a person:
From: The Easy Rider
To: Article III Groupie
Date: Jul 26, 2005 1:32 PM
Subject: Judge RobertsA3G: Sorry, but I don't know Judge Roberts all that well. He's always struck me as a very pleasant, straight-up guy, but I haven't spent that much time with him, so it's hard to say anything more than that.
You may recall that he and I judged moot court at Yale last spring. He certainly seemed very sharp in his questions and had a very pleasant demeanor on the bench, but perhaps if you contacted some of the students who appeared before us
you'd get a better perspective.All the best.
Ciao. AK
Most excellent! A3G thanks AK for his comments on Judge Roberts.
A3G is still soliciting tidbits from her readers concerning Judge John Roberts. In response to her question (see item 4) about Judge Roberts's 2003 income of $1 million from Hogan & Hartson, as reported in his financial disclosure form, she recently received this helpful info from a reader:
The $1 million figure for Roberts includes the partnership reimbursement. The previous two years, Roberts made between $700,000 and $750,000 each year. Hogan isn't a very-well leveraged firm (which was why Roberts had the opportunity to build a practice there from scratch at the age of 36). In contrast, Roberts' old mentor, Ken Starr, was making $2 million a year at Kirkland & Ellis at his peak before he took the independent counsel job.
Very interesting! A3G is grateful to the reader who shared the inside scoop with her.
For the most part, however, A3G's normally helpful readership has declined to step up to the plate with respect to SCOTUS nominee Roberts. True, Judge Roberts has been nominated to serve as the 109th justice of the United States Supreme Court -- but don't let that intimidate you! If you have any juicy morsels at all about him, such as judicial sight-ations of him at the Chevy Chase dry cleaners or the local supermarket, please email A3G.
The mainstream news media has gotten tons of great dish about Judge Roberts as a person. They've dredged up childhood letters of his, and they've even reported on his technique as a squash player.* A3G is starting to feel like she has nothing to add to the discussion. Please help her out!
* Concerning Judge Roberts as a squash player, high-powered appellate attorney Larry Robbins -- a Robertsian pal since their days on the Harvard Law Review -- had the following to say to the Washington Post: "You know, he's an ambidextrous squash player. He favors his right, but he can use his left when the situation calls for it."
Judge Roberts "favors his right," but "can use his left" when appropriate? Might his squash-playing offer hints about the jurisprudence of a future Justice Roberts?
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